


Just have to be brave

by LamcB



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Age Difference, Avalanche, Before Plate 7 fall, Caith Sith - Freeform, F/M, Light Angst, No Grooming, Office Romance, Older Man/Younger Woman, Pining, Reeve needs some love, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 42,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LamcB/pseuds/LamcB
Summary: On the night of the move, Riley meets an aspiring office worker who goes by the name of Reeve Tuesti. The inspirational words of the man seep right into her heart, and years later when she meets him again, she finds that her hearts beats faster than she had expected
Relationships: Reeve Tuesti/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I like many others, played the remake and I just loved the ever-loving shit out of Reeve. I have high hopes for his role and that of Caith Sith in the next chapters. Anyways I just wanted to show Reeve some love and I thought of a sort of office romance idea. This is my first official fic on any website (I write tons of dribbles in my spare time) but I wanted to put this one out there. Anyway enjoy ;)

Sitting outside on the park bench in the pouring rain was an 12 year old girl by the name of Riley Thymos. The sound of her screaming parents still echoed inside her head. The gambling addiction of her mother had devolved into such a state that they were about to loose the topside house on Sector 1. They had already moved two times, downsizing every time. The car had been sold, all of the family heirlooms, even Riley’s bike had been sold. Her father worked two jobs, as a car repairer and in a factory as a maintenance man, but even with double the income, her mother would take any money she could get her hands on and put it in the next gamble, promising it would be a big one this time. But the big one never came. And her mother was away more and more often. The fights got more and more intense. And today when she had asked her mother why she couldn’t just be like the other mothers, she had gotten slapped across the face.  
She rubbed her sore cheek and looked up. She could see the edge of the plate and the reactor in the distance. It was already dark outside so the bright glow of the Mako cast a great shadow across the buildings. Riley thought of the people below the plate. How their sky was an artificial one, with great sun lamps providing them with light and warmth during the day. She looked up to the sky. Would this be the last day she would see the real sky?  
“Hello. How do you do?” A warm voice sounded to her right as an umbrella moved in her line of sight. She perked up and almost shrieked. Standing next to her was a man in a storm grey coat holding out his purple umbrella. He had a handsome clean shaven face and dark hair which now stuck to his face.  
“Did you forget your coat?” He continued as Riley continued to stare silently.  
Realizing she was in her t-shirt and three quarter pants Riley pressed her lips together. It had been a sunny day and after school she had enjoyed walking around outside, not knowing that brief moment of joy would be ripped apart upon her return home.  
“Uhm…” she mumbled grabbed her hem of her shirt and turned beet red despite her shivering body. Riley nodded quietly and turned her face away.  
“Are you waiting for someone?” He kneeled down, still holding the umbrella over her head. He tried to get a look at her face, but all he spotted was the red swollen mark on her cheek. The man’s shoulder went stiff and his smile faltered a little. But as she shook no and mumbled, “I’m not lost” he put on his best smile again and replied, “well I’m glad to hear it”.  
“Actually, I am a little lost. I was wondering if perhaps you could help me”.  
Riley turned to look at the man. A strange man talking to her in the park at night should probably have ignited some primal fear and caused her to leg it a mile, but she didn’t. She asked where he wanted to go and when he said he wanted to go to a convenience store to grab a quick snack on his way home, Riley suddenly felt some sense of duty spring forth. There was something about his brown eyes that made her think of a teddy bear she once had, and he same sense of warmth and security radiated of his person. She got up from the bench and said, “there is one around the corner” pointing at the end of the street.  
She looked over her shoulder and saw he was still holding his umbrella over her head, his shoulders were already soaked and the rain was dripping down his face. And still he smiled as brightly as he could. All of the sudden she got worried. What if he caught a cold. Without warning, she grabbed the edge of his sleeve and said, “come on, hurry. You’ll catch a cold”.  
The startled man played along and politely followed behind the girl. When they got to the convenience store however, they stood in front of a closed set of doors, the neon sign above still shining brightly. They hid under the overhang and looked silently at the pouring rain. The man closed his umbrella and looked to his side. The girl was hugging her arms around herself and trembling like a leaf. He looked around feverishly and saw a vending machine.  
“Here, could you hold this for a moment” he handed Riley his umbrella and briefcase.  
Following the man with her blue eyes she watched as he frowned staring at the display and his finger hovered over almost all the keys. His face cleared up however and he put in the coins, taking out two cans.  
Riley walked up to him and threw him a questioning look. He reached her a can of hot cocoa. They awkwardly shuffled around the items in their hands and once, the man had put his suitcase and umbrella down he looked at the girl with an encouraging nod.  
Riley held the can tightly, relishing in the little heat it had to offer. She forgot she was supposed to drink it until the man chuckled and said, “I’m sorry, do you want to trade with mine?”.  
She opened it and took a big gulp. The man reassured by this sight, opened his can of warm tea and watched from the corner of his eye as a little white puff left her lips. He saw one of the five fingers on her cheek again and grimaced.  
“You know, it’s alright to ask for help” he said calmly.  
Riley’s body stiffened and she immediately turned away. Trying to comb her hair in front of her face as inconspicuous as possible she replied with a little bratty tone, “even adults can ask for help”.  
He laughed despite of his aching heart and continued, “yes that is certainly true”.  
The man lowered his gaze to the warm can in his hand. A little smile appeared on his face as he continued, “it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I often accept to much work from the higher-ups, and I have to ask my colleagues to help me out all the time. But I like to think that, one has to be brave to be able to ask for help”.  
“Maybe you should tell your boss you don’t want to do so much work. Papa always works too much. It’s not good for you…” Riley mumbled.  
“Well perhaps, like your papa, I just have really big plans. And Midgar was built by hard workers” he pumped his fist in an exaggerated gesture. He felt a bit scrutinized as the girl threw him a knowing look and turned away to take another sip.  
He tried to find the right words to say, but found he had finished his drink before anything positive had even left his lips. His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. He fetched it from his pocket and opened the top to check the message. He repressed a sigh, but Riley could see it wasn’t good news. Nevertheless, as he pocketed his phone he smiled again and said, “do you live nearby? I’ll bring you home first”.  
“Don’t you have to go to work?” Riley asked with a judging raised eyebrow.  
The man gave an apologetic grin and said, “yes well…” he said with a warm voice, “you’re more important right now”.  
Riley blushed again, the teenager gripping the can tightly as she turned away. “Didn’t you have big plans?”.  
“Go on” the man stared at her back. “I live nearby. I’ll be fine”.  
“But it’s almost midnight. You-“  
“I’ll be fine” she cut him off.  
“I just have to be brave” her shoulders were trembling.  
The man clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to push her, but he couldn’t just leave her either. He felt his phone buzz again in his pocket. Irked he reached for it again as he suddenly got an idea.  
Taking his phone and wallet from his inner coat and quickly slipped off the slightly damp suit coat.  
Feeling something graze over her shoulder made Riley gasp and she spun around. Confused she looked at the large navy blue coat and opened her mouth to argue but he raised his hand and simply smiled. He awkwardly stuffed his phone and wallet in his outer coat and swiftly buttoned up his outer coat. Grabbing his umbrella and suitcase of the ground he straightened his back and said, “if you can be brave, then I should help in any way I can”.  
He opened his umbrella and stepped out into the rain. He then turned around and deftly put the umbrella in Riley’s empty hand.  
Staring at him in a complete daze, Riley blinked slowly and watched as she watched the man break out into a little sprint and run down the street.  
“Good luck. I’m counting on you!” He called over his shoulder.  
Riley watched as he disappeared from sight and then looked at the can and the umbrella in either of her hands. She curled up and held the can to her cheek. The heat had almost faded, but the feeling was still there. Tears started rolled down the tin can and Riley took a shaky breath.

Coming home, she only found her father on the steps of the apartment building, his face buried in his arms. He pulled her in for a hug and apologized like it was the only words he knew how to pronounce.  
“Chickadee, where did you get this coat from?” He asked confused.  
“A man with a Shinra suitcase” Riley looked at the dark circles under his eyes.  
“What?! What did he say, did he do anything to you?!” Her father shrieked.  
“No, he gave me his umbrella and coat” she brushed her thumb over the ring she had pulled of the can before throwing it away.  
He gripped her arms tightly and brushed her hair out of her face. His eyes landed on the mark on her face and his eyes dropped. He knew who had put that mark there. He pulled his daughter in for another hug and said with a breaking voice, “I’m just glad you’re safe”.  
“Are we gonna move again?” Riley mumbled into this shirt.  
“Yeah little Chocobo. But this time it’s gonna be the two of us” Riley’s father kneeled down and held her at arms length. He tried a smile but his quivering lips couldn’t manage and he just pressed them together. He patted Riley’s head and said with tears brimming at his eyelids, “momma’s not coming with us”.  
Riley nodded and replied calmly, “ok, I’ll go pack”.  
“Chickadee? Are you alright?” Her father stopped her from moving past him.  
“Yeah Pa” she touched his forearm with her one hand, while tracing the ring in her pocket with her other.  
“That guy really didn’t do anything weir-“  
“No Pa, he just wanted to help” she shook her head. She took his hand and jutted her chin to the entrance, “come on, let’s start packing”.

This was the day. It was announced that next week Mister Tuesti was coming to the construction site to inspect the premises. Riley hadn’t been this excited in years. She had barely listened as Boss Yogg gave the regular lecture about how they needed to be on their best behavior and how one mistake could ruin the company name. All she had been thinking about it how she was going to meet him again. It wasn’t a coincidence she had started working for this employer because she knew Boss Yogg was often subcontracted by the Shinra department of Urban Development. Riley had worked her way up to workplace supervisor and often briefed her colleagues on site, helped ensure safety procedures were up to date and also jumped in to do heavy lifting. The safety procedures protocol jumped up in her mind and she was snapped out of that daydream.  
She stepped up and said, “boss, what about those Gorger sightings in the northern sector of the building site-“  
“That’s idle gossip-“  
“Gossip?! You’re telling me Jimmy bit and mauled Gregor before doing the same to himself?!” she started with a heated voice.  
“Just a couple of strays or something. We’ll handle it” Yogg hand waved away.  
“Sir, with your permission, I’ll handle this myself. As supervis-“  
“And as your superior I’ll decide to who I outsource my assets. So pipe down Thymos”.  
Some of her college’s chuckled, but more then half threw her knowing glances and side eyed her as she stepped back in line.  
It didn’t matter, Riley would just stake out the perimeter after Yogg had gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somehow Riley didn't think meeting Reeve was going to be quite like this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. More nerves. Lessgooooo

“Sorry, got held up in traffic. Those Avalanche guys should really stop using trains” Riley threw her hand on Torc’s shoulder. He patted her on the back and gestured to the doorway. Outside the staff room she saw Yogg in a perfect suit, which bulged just a little at his stomach and a helmet which seemed to have been polished with diamond polish, escorting the Director. He was dressed in a teal suit, with a more casual outer coat and an equally shiny safety helmet. He seemed to have a very serious conversation with Yogg, but it was intercut by smiles and laughter, patting Yogg on his shoulder. They were followed around by two of Tuesti’s men no doubt, but Riley could see they were carrying.   
“Did you take care of the thing?” Torc’s gruff voice sounded and he handed Riley her work overalls.  
“Yeah, I plugged the hole and put some oil pots around the borders. The scent will hopefully ward them off. They were huge though… But it’s ok, they won’t go there, it’s still a-“  
“And the northern area?” She picked up. Riley spun her head around so fast, she almost felt a muscle snap. Yogg tried to coax him out of it, but mister Tuesti was adamant to see the unfinished demolition work. A conversation they had as he continued walking north.  
Riley and Torc exchanged a panicked look and Riley almost tore her shirt off. Not caring if someone saw her in her underwear she stumbled to put on her overall and boots as Torc hurried to the open doorway and said he’ll try to divert them. She gave a fervent nod of her head as she yanked the zipper over her waist to be able to put on the tool belt. Next to the normal communication device, tiny first aid kit and multipurpose screwdriver, she also put her seraph knives in the sheaths on her back and holstered her pistol in the holder under her jacket. Grabbing her helmet, she ignored the fact that her jacket was still half open and booked it out of the room.

“Look out!” She tackled the man of his feet. They rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop. Riley grunted and pushed off against a slightly soft surface. She looked up and noticed she was sprawled on top of mister Tuesti. She didn’t however have the time to blush as she looked over her shoulder to see the status.  
The man winced and moved to sit up but realized there was someone laying on top of him. Opening his eyes the first thing he saw was an edge of green lace and he did a startled doubletake.   
“Sir are you alright?” A woman’s voice reached his ears. Two hands gripped his shoulders tightly and helped him sit up. “Sir!”.  
More sounds returned to him, like gunfire, screams and the sound of falling debris. He looked over the shoulder of the young woman and stared in mild horror as two 4 foot long monsters launched themselves at one of his subordinates.   
“Dylan!” He exclaimed and felt the urge to jump in to help. But the woman held him in his place and looked around feverishly.   
Riley ignored the screaming Yogg as she spotted an exit.  
“Sir, we have to move” she released the vice grip she had on his coat and swiftly got to her feet. She reached out and pulled Tuesti on his feet as well, the man surprised at the ease with which she did. The other bodyguard saw his client was on his feet again, an armed worker standing next to him and ran from one of the Gorgers to plant himself between the two.  
“Move! Get the Director out of here. I’ll cover you!” he provided cover fire as two new Gorgers tried to cut him off.  
“Right!” Riley nodded and grabbed hold of Tuesti’s wrist and pulled him away from the scene.  
She yanked her communicator from her belt and dialed Torc’s number. “Code red, hostiles on the premises, number unknown. Northern area. Calling for backup”.  
“Roger that. We heard the gun fire. I’ve already organized a squad. What is your position Thymos?” the man replied almost immediately, he sounded like he was running himself.  
“Enroute to block C. Mister Tuesti is with me, but I’m not sure what happened to his men-“  
“Don’t worry about it, just keep going” Torc cut her off and ended communication.   
Riley nodded to herself and looked over her shoulder, mister Tuesti tried to keep up, but she realized she was probably going to fast around to many tight corners for an office-man to keep up. She checked the surrounding area and slowed down a little. “Mister Tuesti, we’re heading towards the eastern exit of the site. Block C is a future recreational area, we can slip through the pool area, it’s mostly finished so they won’t be able to get through there easily” she said.  
He replied with a huff and loosened his tie as their pace slowed down further. Not wanting to stand still just yet, Riley continued to Block C and used her card to access the lock. She held up her hand for a moment to gesture to Tuesti to hold and took one of her blades from her back. Tuesti gulped and watched how the woman slowly opened the door and peered inside. She left the door wide open as she stepped inside and gestured with her head for the man to follow.   
Listening intently, she took a flashlight from her belt and shone it down the hallway, making it flicker a couple of times to try and entice any monsters hiding. Block C was always the safest to work, the monsters normally only hid in old buildings or rubble, and it was almost completely locked up from the outside.  
She nodded and made mister Tuesti enter first. She checked the outside one last time, and locked the door behind her.   
“Goodness, I didn’t think there would be monsters this far into the city” a slightly out of breath Tuesti huffed.  
Riley aimed her flashlight at the wall next to the man, being intuitive enough not to shine it in his face. His brow was knit and the lines on his face made him look older then he probably was. He now sported a beard and mustache which, like his hair and suit, was now sprinkled with dust and debris. His eyes though grief laden, were still the same warm brown and it almost made Riley smile that they still carried the same glow of compassion and concern towards others.  
“Above or under the plate, monster always found a way to worm their way inside civilian area’s” she presented him with a grim reality, sheathing her seraph blade. Tuesti looked at the sheaths on her back and grimaced.  
“Are you sure they’re going to be all right out there?” He spoke up looking over his shoulder to the closed door.   
“They’ll be fine. Gorgers are fast but not very smart, if more people show up, they’re most likely to run off”  
She instead reached for her pistol and checked her ammo.   
Tuesti looked at the woman with a thoughtful look. She seemed young, but she carried herself with a confident air that could only come from years of experience. She was quick to act and call for backup, but her weapons pointed to a much more proactive side of her. His eye fell on her open overall. She didn’t seem to notice and he felt embarrassed staring for more then a second at the green lace bra as well as a pendant hanging on her sternum. He cleared his throat to draw attention and pointed his finger to his own chest, moving it up and down the row of buttons from his shirt, all the while refraining himself from eyecontact.   
The sharp breath in signaled she got the message and he continued to stare intently at the exit sign as she light beam dropped and Riley struggled zipping her overall up with a gun in one hand and a flashlight in her other.  
“S-sorry” she mumbled and took hold of her weapon once again.   
“This way” she turned her shoulder towards him and took a couple of steps.  
The emergency lighting would have been light enough to navigate the area, but still Riley held her flashlight next to her pistol as she moved it around each new hallway. They made their way quietly through an empty kitchen and a cafe area before taking a left and moving through the foyer to head to the pool.  
“Can’t we take the front door?”  
“No the emergency exit of the pool area is closer by the gate, we can circle around to the main entrance through the back alley” she stated curtly.   
Realizing she had probably sounded brash she looked over her shoulder with an apologetic frown and said, “it’s longer, but it’s safer”.  
He nodded understandably and continued following Riley without any complaint.   
“Do all personal carry arms around the premises?” He asked curiously.   
“No not everyone. I’m the workplace supervisor, I have clearance to carry this pistol with me. Monster attacks aren’t unusual around construction or demolition sites” she opened the door to the pool area and used the same blinking technique to lure out any curious monsters.   
“It’s not normal, but it’s not unexpected either” she stepped aside and held the door open.  
“I only knew that the construction in the lower area’s was often hindered by monsters. This is quite a concerning phenomena to find out”  
“Oh it’s worse in the slums. There, armed personal it pretty much the standard” Riley said plainly.   
Tuesti stood still in the door opening, brow knit and gears turning. The woman didn’t want to play it down, so she just said, “are you alright Sir? Are you hurt?”.  
“N-no” he shook his head and pushed past Riley, “this is a lot of food for thought, that’s all”.  
“All in a days work” Riley hummed and locked the door behind her.   
The sound of the closing door echoed in the empty room. The emergency lighting almost seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness, only the lighting around the pool seemed to be beacon.  
“I somehow imagined this different when I cleared the plans” Tuesti sighed.   
“It’s a bit different down to the ground huh?” Riley moved past the walls and coaxed the man to do the same.  
“I always try to visit all the building sites of the projects I give clearance to. And every time I’m faced with how bureaucracy can cloud the mind from tangible problems and threats” he lamented.   
Riley smiled to herself, “well that’s an approach not many higher-ups will adhere to”.  
“I’m ashamed to admit to that much” he pinched the bridge of his nose.  
“Well, there must be some hard workers up there” she turned towards him with a smile.  
A static noise caused the two to jump up. Riley handed the flashlight to the Director and took the communicator from her belt.   
“Thymos here, come in”  
“Riley, Torc here. We took care of the hostiles. The two bodyguards are safe, a bit roughed up but they’ll be fine. Paramedics are on the way”.  
Tuesti breathed a sigh of relief to hear that his men were all right.  
“Ok. We’re almost at the eastern wall. We’ll rendezvous at the southern exit in the staff room”.  
“Roger that” the connection was cut again.   
“Thank Gaia” Tuesti returned the flashlight to Riley. “See, everything will be fine” she replied. They moved the last few meters to the emergency exit and Riley swiped her card across the terminal.  
“So your name is Riley Thymos?” Tuesti asked curiously.   
Riley only hummed in agreement and touched her pendant as she pocketed her flashlight, feeling a slight blush creep up her face again.  
Opening the door slightly, she had to squeeze her eyes shut as the light flooded the doorway. Her eyes having adjusted to the dim lighting, the outside world was suddenly painfully bright. Waiting a little before her eyes adjusted again, she moved forward cautiously.   
Riley walked out a bit, trying to bait anything to attack her in stead of targeting the more squishy Director who stood nervously in the doorway.  
Surely enough, as soon as Riley spotted the knocked over oil pot, a screeching sound popped up to her left and she raised her pistol in the direction.   
“Sir! lock the door!” She called as she expertly fired three shots into it’s head and took one seraph blade in her hand to swipe at it’s feet. Staggered the Gorger fell to the ground, allowing Riley to finish it off by plunging her blade into it’s skull.   
“Throw me the communicator, I’ll call for help” Tuesti called, watching Riley dance around two new enemies.   
“No need” she said confidently and emptied the clip into the torso of the second Gorger. She holstered her pistol and reached behind her back grabbing both of her seraph blades.   
In a flurry of cuts and stabs, she had defeated the remaining Gorgers in under a minute. Straightening her back she cleaned the green blood from her blades by wiping it across her thighs before sheathing them again. She turned to the exit and saw mister Tuesti stare at her with an open mouth. She moved towards him with a bashful smile and asked if he was all right.   
“Yes, I uhm… Why- You’re quite an experienced fighter” he said breathlessly.  
Riley’s shoulder perked up and she found herself tugging at her pendant as she turned away with a coy chuckle, “yes well”.  
She smiled brightly to her self and looked up, “I’m a lot braver than I look”.  
“Goodness… It is you, isn’t it?” a spark of recognition was lit in his warm brown eyes, “the girl from Sector 1. I bought you a can of hot cocoa-”.  
Feeling her face heat up, Riley took it upon herself to survey the area again saying, “let’s talk about that later Sir, let me get you to safety first”.

Riley hovered around mister Tuesti as he ran to check on his bodyguards at the back of the paramedics van. She kept an eye on him as she moved to Torc and asked him how things had gone. He gave her a quick rundown and gestured to Yogg barking orders and telling people to lock up the perimeter. Riley padded Torc’s arm and thanked him.   
Yogg looked a bit smudged, but nothing serious. The only thing that was damaged was no doubt his ego as Riley overheard him hissing to a trustee that he didn’t want the press anywhere near the building site until he had made an official statement. When he spotted Riley drawing closer, his attention quickly shifted and he made a beeline to the Director, putting on a spiel to ask if he was alright.  
“Yes, I am thank to your supervisor miss Thymos” Tuesti searched for the woman. He gestured for her to come near and Yogg threw her a sharp look as she stepped up.  
“Yes I told Thymos and a couple of others to comb out the demolition area. Those pests rarely pop up, but they must have been very good at hiding”   
“Rarely?! Sir I told you last week, the sightings have increased. I had to wait till 2 am for the delivery of the warding oil pots”  
“Ah yes, yes, well I hope you have filed that report already” Yogg tried to wave it off.  
“I did, last week! And it would have told you that the Northern area is the hotspot and that we should hurry up the demolition work” Riley stood her ground.  
“I must have missed it-“  
“Or ignored it. What was it you said at last week’s briefing? Idle gossip?” She crossed her arms.   
Yogg was slightly taller then Riley, and as he turned towards her he cast a bit of a shadow as he hissed through his teeth, “you’re out of line”  
“I would like to see that report” Tuesti made his presence known again. Yogg had almost forgotten one of the heads of the Shinra company was only standing two feet away from him and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land.   
“I would like to set up a line of inquiries revolving around the presence of monsters and fiends in both the upper and lower area’s. I would like to cross reference it with other buildings sites we oversee” he gave Yogg a sharp look. He took two steps backwards and eyed Tuesti warily. Then he forced a smile and said, “of course, anything for the safety of our workers. Shall we continue this conversation some other time, I really need to tend to the situation-“  
“Understandable-” Riley was surprised that Tuesti forfeit, but then he turned to her and said, “miss Thymos, could you ensure those sightings and the report are sent to my office?”.  
She glanched quickly at Yogg and saw him turn red before saying with a little smile, “I can grab the report right now”.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having a big mouth has big consequences. Now Riley finds herself adjusting to a whole other line of work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Times for the two to get to know each other a bit better :3

“Miss Thymos” a voice caught her attention. She turned around and looked through the foggy spring morning. It was almost 5 in the morning but mister Tuesti walked across the road to greet her.   
He was holding a paper cup of coffee which steamed profoundly as he came to a halt next to her. She gave him a warm smile and greeted him with a good morning. “I hoped that you were alright. I never heard from you. I left several messages to the office”.  
“Messages? Wait do you mean-“  
“I wanted your opinion on some of the new safety measures for the buildings sites, did no-one tell you?” He quirked an eyebrow.  
Riley closed her eyes with a breathless chuckle. She shook her head and said, “I don’t work for Yogg anymore he- uhm-“  
“He laid me off” she brushed her hair over her shoulder to try and make her statement seem more casual.   
“What? Yesterday I asked Miriam to call Yogg directly, he informed her that you were on sick leave” he blinked astounded. He quickly realized the nature of the situation and buried his face in his hand.   
“He didn’t like me talking up to him. Especially calling him out in front of a Shinra Director” she shrugged, “it’s not your fault, really. It would have happened sooner or later” she added quickly as she saw Tuesti’s expression sour.   
“But I do feel responsible. I gave him a warning about following the proper procedures when handling employees feedback. I should have been more assertive with him-”  
“Mister Tuesti” Riley said firmly and placed her hand on his upper arm.   
“It’s not your fault” she repeated calmly. She glanced to the side swallowing some of the sadness and said, “it’ll work out. I’m sure of it”.  
She looked at the cup he was holding and continued on a more cheerful note, “one of my former college’s set me up with a job in this exclusive coffee house. You should come by someday”  
“I see-“ he tried to reciprocate her optimism and asked, “are you on your way to work right now?”  
“No not yet. I also help out with security work down in sector 3 slums. A couple of my old buddies from sector 1 are coming here to pick me up, they had to swing by an-“ she considered her words, “a shop that sells equipment”.  
“Security work? Fighting against monsters or-“  
“Both. But uhm…It’s nothing serious, I’ve fought worse in sector 1 slums to be honest” she gave a light hearted chuckle which only made his heart sink deeper.  
She heard a car honk and looked around. She saw the truck and waved at her partner in the back, gesturing for her to hurry up.   
“I gotta go” she took three large steps but stopped quickly, “I work at the Blue Mountain, it’s down on 12th street, I work on Tuesday and Wednesdays. Oh and sometimes on weekends as well” she called as she got further and further away.  
“Take care mister Tuesti!” She shouted one last time before jumping in the back of the truck.

“Hi, welcome to- oh mister Tuesti” Riley looked up from the cup in her hand.  
“Hello again miss Thymos” he said with a warm voice and moved to the counter. “My apologies I couldn’t meet you earlier. It’s my first day off in quite some time” he laughed in spite of himself.  
“Of course, please sit down. That is if you can stay” she put the cups on a tray and lifted it on her right hand.   
“Yes please” he nodded and watched as she moved away from the counter to deliver the order to the table. She gave the customers a smile before returning to the Director and saying, “follow me. There is a nice table next to the window over here”.  
She took out the chair and gestured to the seat with a professional air to her. “Can I take your coat?” She offered and helped him out of his coat. As she stepped up behind him and took hold of the overcoat, she could clearly smell his cologne. It was an earthy almost honey like scent and it was so pleasant she had to keep herself from taking a deep audible breath through her nose. Draping the coat over her arm she smiled and said she would swiftly come by with the menu.  
Tuesti followed her around with his eyes. She was dressed in a neat looking white dress shirt and black trousers and a plain dark green apron. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun and though she didn’t seem to wear any make-up her cheeks were a healthy red and her long dark lashes brushed over her cheeks as she gave him a smile and presented him with the menu. She stood neatly next to him, a notebook in hand and waited patiently to him to make his decision. He took a brief obligatory glance at the menu before turning to her and asking, “how are you doing? This must be quite the change of scenery”.  
“Oh I’ve worked in tons of places over the past 11 years. I like the change” she smiled. As she folded her hands over the notebook, Tuesti saw a healing wound the back of her hand.   
“If you’d like I could help you find-“  
“It’s alright mister Tuesti” Riley quickly covered her hand, “I have a job on the plate. I’m more lucky then most people down below are”.  
He stared at the menu and contemplated with himself. He wanted nothing else but to help her out, but she didn’t seem to want to accept his help. She was a proud girl -women he reminded himself - just like before when he had given her his coat. He had found it delivered back to his office, having left his business card holder inside. Next to the umbrella, he had also found an envelop with the 9 gill he had paid for both drinks and a card that simply read, “thank you” and nothing else. He couldn’t bear to throw away the card and had put it in one of his planners, now probably collecting dust in a box at the office. Occasionally he would think of that girl, and what had happened to her. He would think of the mark on her cheek and her grief laden eyes as she was looking at the sky almost begging to be hit by lightning. But here she was, matured into a beautiful young lady, head high and trying to make ends meet, even in the face of adversity.  
“Please, call me Reeve. Mister Tuesti is my father” he tried a joke and was happy that it had an effect as a genuine smile seemed to appear on her pink lips.  
“Allright then, mister Reeve” she repeated, “what can I get you?”.

Reeve returned every other Wednesday. Sometimes he would stay away for an extra week, but would apologize the following week when showing up. He would often still bring some work with him, having a laptop or stack of files in his briefcase. Because of that, she got the impression he didn’t know the definition of a day off. Riley’s colleges had learned to back off and let her take care of her regular, as most regulars seemed to have a waitress they liked better then others. A blonde girl called Eve stood behind the bar with her cleaning glasses as she nudged Riley with her hip. The brunette looked up curiously and saw the man walk to the front door in a hurried pace.  
“He’s very eager to see you” she threw her a mischievous wink.   
“Shut up” she hissed through her teeth as she gave a beaming smile upon hearing the bell.   
“Good afternoon mister Reeve-“  
“Mister Reeee-vee” Eve hummed barely audibly as she moved away from the bar.  
“Hello misses Riley” he took a deep breath before plopping down on the barstool.   
“I can’t stay long I’m afraid. I-“ his posture changed a little and he altered his line saying, “I’ve got an important meeting”.  
“The regular then? We’ve got take away” she said with a playful tone. He gave an appreciative grin, but his face quickly went serious again as he looked to the side.  
“Are you alright mister Reeve?” Riley asked with a bit more urgency then she had intended.   
“Yes-“ he lied but his shoulders slumped and he followed it up with, “No. It’s my mother. She has a heart condition. She’s been in and out of the hospital for as long as I can remember. She took a turn for the worse, and today is the first day I could find time off to go visit her”  
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that. I’m telling you, I don’t think Shinra is paying you enough for all the extra work you put in” she said sympathetically.   
The grinder was suddenly deafening as she turned it on. She looked at Reeve and how the marks on the bridge of his nose were starting to become red. She wondered if one could wear of the skin of their nose by overusing that gesture, but knew he had good reason to. He wasn’t very open about his business or private life, often opting to engage in meaningless small talk whenever they could share a moment. But Riley thought he probably just wanted someone outside the company to have that meaningless small talk with, to unwind, if only a little.  
“I know what it’s like to care for a parent” she decided to open up a little. “My father is the same. Mako poisoning is slowly eating away at his body. And that was after all the osteoporosis he had accumulated over the course of his life working in the Sector 1 slums”.  
“Oh my…”  
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to get you down. He’s still hanging in there. He’s due for a surgery to remove a Mako induced tumor. And I’m working hard to make sure he get’s the care he deserves” she hackled nervously.   
She took a deep breath and took her pendant in thumb and wise finger as she said, “My point it. The hardest job, is to keep smiling as I enter his room. I know that’s really hard. But you can do it”  
“I know you can do it” she took the siphon and poured out the coffee into a paper cup. She smiled as she looked down and put in two sugars and topped it of with a lid before putting it on a napkin in front of Reeve. “And if this is how I can help, I’ll gladly walk all the way up the stairs of the Shinra building to give you a cup of coffee made with extra love and attention”.  
The kindhearted smile she gave him almost made his heart melt. He let out a jovial laugh and said, “are you sure, that’s 30 flights of stairs”.  
“I’m in a very good condition” Riley countered and flexed her arm as a flourish. They shared a laugh and Reeve stared at his cup with a fond look before taking out his wallet and paying.   
A woman with a tight haircut stepped in holding a bouquet but remained in the opening and called out before Riley could greet her, “Mister Reeve, the car has arrived. I picked up the flowers you forgot”.  
Slightly embarrassed he refused the change and made his way to the door. He took the bouquet from Miriam’s hands and held open the door with his elbow as she gave him a judgmental look. She bobbed her head to Riley and moved back out on the street.   
“Thank you very much Riley, I’ll be back next week”.   
She gave a wave and stared curiously at the company car he got into. She however perked up when she heard the teasing of her two colleges who called her from the kitchen.   
“He dropped the honorifics” Eve said breathlessly.   
“Next thing you’ll know he’ll bring in a bouquet like that for our Riley” Hina said with a dramatic gesture.   
“Tipped her 50 gill…”  
“And he held open the door for a lady. True makings of a gentleman”  
“Shut uuppppp” Riley’s shoulders perked up and she hid her face in her hand as she tugged at her pendant with the other.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When live get's too comfortable, fate always has a way to throw a curveball at you

Reeve was surprised to see that Riley wasn’t at the front. Glancing through the shop he saw one of her college’s tending to a customer. He didn’t want to keep standing in the reception area, so he went to his usual spot and sat down, temporarily hanging his coat from the back of the seat.  
He looked around again, brown eyes searching for the woman. It had become a comfortable routine he had fallen into, and now he felt a little unnerved not seeing her. He calmed himself by thinking she had probably caught a cold or something, but when thinking of that, suddenly more frightening idea’s popped into his head. Like the security work she said she ran, or the delivery jobs she said she took on from time to time. What if she is injured, he thought as he timidly traced the edge of his cuffs with his thumb.  
“Hello thank you for waiting- Oh it’s you mister Reeve” a blonde woman stepped up. Her voice started as a cheerful, trained voice one would use to address customers, but when speaking his name, it gave away to much tension for his liking.  
“C-can I take you order sir?” She raised the notebook to her chest but hesitated, “or do you want to wait for Riley?”.  
“Is she at work?” He tried to say calmly.  
Her body stiffened and her side glancing eyes were not a good sign. She stepped a bit closer and said softly without drawing attention, “she had to take an urgent call from the hospital. She in the back right now”.  
“I see-“ he replied with a stony voice, trying to hide his emotions.  
“Would you like to stay or-“  
“I’ll stay” he answered with a stern expression.  
“I’ll make sure to tell her to drop by, alright?” The blonde woman continued in a bit of a brighter voice. She took his order and returned to the bar to make it.  
From where Reeve was sitting, he could see the bar and the doorway to the kitchen perfectly, and he couldn’t keep his eyes of it. As the blonde woman brought him his coffee, he managed a sincere thank you and continued his stare off with the doorframe.  
The coffee remained untouched, slowly loosing it’s heat with every passing minute. Minutes which seemed like hours in his mind. Hearing his phone buzz on the table, he reached for it and checked the message briefly. As he looked up he saw another one of Riley’s college’s poke her head out of the kitchen. She was speaking with the blonde woman in hushed tones and the worry was dripping of her face. Her eyes met with concerned Director and she seemed slightly taken aback.  
The blonde looked over her shoulder with a timid look and then raised her hand to subtly signal Reeve to come up to the bar.  
He froze for a second as a horrible thought shot through his mind. He cautiously looked around and got up as calm as possible, straightening his jacket during the walk to the bar. As he came into hearing distance he could hear the blonde woman tell the other to go wait on the customers as she took Reeve into the kitchen.  
“Riley’s father was supposed to get his surgery in two days. She’s been balling her eyes out round back and Yuria couldn’t get a word out of her” she rubbed her upper arm.  
Reeve’s heart was racing, his body tight as spring, ready to run to wherever Riley was crying right now.  
“Sir I know this is a bit out of left field but- Could you maybe talk to her?” The blonde woman said nervously, “I know you’re a customer, but Riley is really fond of you and-“.  
“I understand, just tell me where she is” he said in such a serious tone it almost sounded nothing like his normal voice.  
The blonde nodded fervently and led him through the kitchen to the back door.  
“Our boss isn’t here, but I really need to get back out there. I’m so sorry mister Reeve” she shifted on her feet.  
“It’s alright” he tried to reassure her and watched as she went back to the front again.  
Reeve stared at the emergency exit which was left open with a crate. He could hear Riley’s heartbroken sobs from the alley way and felt his hands were trembling. Clenching them tightly he willed his body to relax and opened the door stepping into the alley.  
“Yuria please, just leave me alone right now!” a heated yet nasal voice shouted.  
Riley stood facing the wall, a balled fist resting against the concrete, the skin red and swollen. Her messy bun was almost completly gone, her hair tie hanging sadly from her wavy brown hair. Riley sucked in another shaky breath only to almost choke on her sobs.  
“It’s not… It’s me, Reeve-“ he tried to make a start to this conversation. It only caused her to spin her head around and stare at him with wide eyes. For a split second he saw her tearstained face contort in shame and she turned her back on him.  
“Why are you here?!” She almost shrieked.  
“Your college asked me for help-“  
“I don’t need your help right now!” She screamed at her feet, hugging her arms around her chest.  
“Fair enough, but how about a listening ear? Would that suffice?” He stepped up, gulping as he felt his throat go dry.  
“Just go away” she held back a sob which only caused her body to twitch painfully. “Please, don’t look at me right” Riley muttered as she heard him walk closer to her.  
“I’m afraid I can’t do that” he reached for his handkerchief and touched her shoulder gently. The woman’s body almost jumped up. But as she looked at the warm hand on her shoulder she could only sob and allowed the man to gently turn her shoulder towards him. Reaching her the handkerchief Reeve kept his hand firmly on her shoulder as he asked the pivotal question, “what happened?”  
She let out an awful laugh devoid of all joy and clenched her hand as she tried to take hold of the handkerchief. She kept her eyes low as she started, “the hospital called, they scrapped the surgery”.  
“There must be a good reason to postpone it-“ he spoke too soon.  
“Not postpone! They won’t even treat him! They won’t do anything anymore!” Riley replied with a high pitched scream that broke half way the sentence.  
Her shoulders shook as she passed another couple of sobs pressing the handkerchief to her lips and continued grimly, “they said that the situation is hopeless for someone with his background, and that they’ll keep my dad on life support-“.  
“His background… HIS BACKGROUND! PA USED TO WORK TOPSIDE IN A WELL RESPECTED GEOLOGIST CENTRE! BUT NO! ALL THEY SEE IS A STREETRAT FROM THE SLUMS!” She screamed. Her knees went weak and Riley latched on to Reeve’s shoulder, knotting the fabric between her fingers  
“No patient should be refused based on their history. Let me call the hospital, I’m sure I can clarify-“  
“NO! There is nothing to clarify! I even paid up front! Put all my savings into this surgery and they still screwed me over!”  
“All the more reason to take this up in court” he tried to sound as grounded as possible.  
“We’re nothing but mangey street rats to them…”  
“If you already paid for the surgery they are bound by law to-““NO REEVE!” Riley shouted and shoved him aside. “there is no fixing this! You can’t just pump more money in your little charity project and expect I’ll be-“ her faced crumpled with dread as she spoke the words and then she staggered backwards a little seeing Reeve’s shocked expression.  
“Riley I never-“ he started but as Riley’s body started to collapse, he rushed forward to catch her.  
Riley’s frightened eyes met with Reeve’s concerned gaze and she looked away. Finding the strength in her legs again, she pushed Reeve’s shoulders at arms length, now with a more mindful yet timid touch.  
“Riley, please. You need help-“ he started with an understanding voice.  
But Riley shook her head and stepped away, a clammy hand reaching for her pendant.  
“No… I don’t…” she stammered.  
“I’m sorry” the woman suddenly burst into a sprint and disappeared down the alley.

The rain was coming down heavy. There wasn’t a gentle pitter patter to be heard, but instead an almost deafening drum sounded on the overhang above her. Shoulders high and her face buried up to her nose in her hoodie, Riley stared at the puddle in front of her.  
She had just been dropped off from another security job. Even though she was on sick leave from her shop topside for about two weeks now, work downside was too important to cancel. And she wasn’t sick, not physically. She only wanted to hurl at the thought of those bureaucratic assholes who scrapped her fathers surgery to make more room for the wealthier patrons. It wasn’t the best hospital in the topside Sector 1, but it had been all she could be referred to from the hospital at the bottom.  
Down below, they had simply lacked the knowledge and expertise, something Riley could forgive them for. Even the lower district was divided further by social status. Surrounding the station was a neighborhood of the people on the way to the plate, stone buildings though cramped and stacked on top of each other were at least structural save and clean. Moving away from that were the middle class, the state of the buildings depended on the owner, and little empty lots which served as trash heaps were already starting to pop up. And then the lower slums, where anything was up for grab and people tried to make their living of scraps.  
When Riley had been young, they had started in the slums. Her father, being such a handy guy as well as a self taught craftsman, he fit in surprisingly quick with the locals and took on any job he could get to provide for his daughter. Riley also took it upon herself to get to work as quickly as possible. The days of education were long gone, and she needed to learn how to walk all over again in the slums. A lot of people there were very distant and could only care about themselves, but the ones who did care, always looked out for everyone. Like Titus the kind mechanic who had taught Riley all she needed to know about breaking down and rebuilding all kinds of vehicles. Mama Beth, who herself had no children, but everyone called her Mama Beth anyway because she always cooked way to much food and went around caring for the sick and elderly. Louis being two years older then Riley and who had been raised in the slums from birth, had taught her how to fight, giving no quoter even though she was a girl. And many many more.  
When her fathers back started to become more and more slouched, and his knees became more and more crooked, Riley took over the jobs her father could no longer preform. She managed to get herself and her father to move into a better apartment in the middle district.  
Her father was still calmly sleeping in the hospital bed, IV hanging from his arm. Seeing him lay comfortably on clean sheets and a big fluffy pillow was the only comfort she took from that visit. She was still besides herself with rage and had interrogated almost all the nurses till she found he surgeon that had made the call. Not being the one to pose a threats, she did want an explanation. The man had calmly lied through his teeth saying that the tumor had grown to big and to close to his spine, that surgery would most likely pose too big of a threat for someone with a history of intense physical labor. The man was well groomed and his shoes shone to brightly for Riley’s liking. The woman took a deep breath and raised her gaze to the sky. She wasn’t quite sure what to do. But returning to her cold apartment seemed even more daunting a task than making the journey to get there.  
Trying to get her mind of of things she began thinking of other things then her desperate situation. Her mind drifted to Reeve and her cowardly escape after insulting him. And once she started thinking about him, she couldn’t stop. She reached inside her coat and pulled out the pendant. Thoughtfully rolling it around in her fingers she closed her eyes and tried to replay that conversation in her head. It only made her more depressed as the last thing she saw was his pained expression. She had hurt him too much and she wasn’t sure if she could reach him in any way to apologize. It’s not like they exchanged phone numbers. Thinking of returning to the coffee shop brought it’s own wave of heartache. She cringed thinking of how suspenseful it would be, staring at the door, just waiting for him to walk in. If he even wanted to face her at all. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to ever see her again. The man had reached her a handkerchief, a handkerchief! One embroidered with his initials. He was a textbook gentleman if she had ever seen one.  
But by some ironic twist of fate, a man stopped on the pavement across the street. Riley’s heart stopped as he turned towards her. Could he see her? She wished the rain would obscure her face. But of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy. She looked to her side, shamefully looking for an escape. Realizing her cowardly behavior, she straightened her back and put her hands in her pocket, bolding her resolve. She needed to take care of this first.  
“Misses Riley… What a fortuitous meeting…” he stopped a few feet in front of her.  
Riley couldn’t bring herself to look at him just yet so she kept her eyes low and replied with a bob of her head and said, “sure seems that way”.  
The moment of silence stretched out, and she heard Reeve close his umbrella and join her under the overhang. Seconds became minutes and Riley as well as Reeve were searching for the right words to say the things that weighed so heavily on their hearts.  
Reeve started with a soft chuckled and said, “this sure takes me back”.  
Riley didn’t reply, so he took it as a sign he should keep talking. “I wasn’t sure what to do that night. To be quite honest I was a little scared. I didn’t want to frighten you or cause you to scream or run away. I mean, a man walking up to a young girl in the park at night is the recipe for disaster”.  
He rolled the umbrella in his hands and carefully glanced to the side. She was still standing there, one hand stuffed deep in her pocket and the other clenching her necklace.  
“But I was worried sick looking at you. I must have spend about 10 minutes waiting to make my entrance. I was pleasantly surprised that you were so levelheaded and honest” he said with a smile. But that smile faded as he continued in a more serious tone, “but I knew you were hurting, if not on the outside then… on the inside”  
“I felt a little selfish, offering to help. Maybe you didn’t want to take the help of a Shinra employee, or maybe you just didn’t want anyone bothering you. Maybe there was nothing wrong at all, or just maybe I was reading into it too much. But I had to do something, I had to try”.  
Riley’s bottom lip trembled and she bit down on it, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Why was he such a kind hearted man? Why couldn’t he just have hated her for saying those things and turned away from her? That would have made this less painful.  
“Just now I was faced with the same dilemma. Wether I should approach you or not. And I found myself repeating the same conversation I had had with myself 10 years ago, only to come to the same conclusion” Reeve turned to face Riley. The girl still stood with her shoulder pointing towards, her face still hidden by a wall of hair.  
“You have to be strong to stand on your own two feet. And smart to know when you need help but-“ Riley stifled a sob and clutched her pendant even firmer, her knuckles turning white. “You have to be brave to ask for help” Reeve noticed the vice grip she had on her necklace.  
He took a deep breath and stated his resolve, “I know you’re strong, and smart. And I know how brave you’ve been your whole life. If you say nothing, then there are no hard feelings. I will respect your autonomy and I wish you the best of luck-“ he gulped thinking of that option, he prayed that he didn’t have to leave her standing here alone in the rain. “But should you so choose, if you-“ his voice raised a bit higher then he intended and he cleared his throat. Calming his heart he continued, “if you would allow me to be selfish once more, I will do anything in my power to help you”.  
Riley felt a tsunami of emotions wash over her and her tears broke free of her eyelids. She was trembling when she turned to face him, not caring if he saw her tearstained face. “I don’t know what to do anymore” a tiny voice rose from her lips. She shook her head and took a step back, causing Reeve’s hand to shoot up in an attempt to stop her from potentially running away. He clenched his fist however, reminding himself of his promise. If she didn’t want anything to do with him, he had to respect that. After all, who was he to her? A stranger? A vague acquaintance? A meddling Shinra businessmen trying to make himself feel better by helping out some poor girl? He pressed his lips together, no that wasn’t it. He didn’t want her to think of him like that. That wasn’t his intention at all. He didn’t need a thank you or anything in return. He just wanted to see her smile.  
“Mister Reeve…. I-“ she raised her head to face him, “can you please- canyoupleasehelpme- I - I don’t know what to do anymore”. After the last word was uttered, she broke down in a loud sobbing, burying her face in her hands.  
Not being able to contain himself, he stretched his arms and pulled her in for a hug. Riley latched on to him almost immediately and buried her face in his shoulder. Using his free hand he gently patted her head and caressed her hair in an attempt to calm her down. But to his shame, he breathed a sigh of relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to throw some drama in there to get the ball rolling. I am very interested in the social issues with the whole slums versus topside people and how stark the contrast is of moving through the slums and moving through the polished Shinra buildings. And in the remake they make it clear through like a handful of minutes, that Reeve is very kind, well meaning, and seemingly the only sane person in the entire building. So I amped it up a little to contrast Riley's more proud and self-reliant nature


	5. Chapter 5

Riley woke up in a strange bed. Sitting up slowly she cautiously scanned her surroundings. It wasn’t her bedroom. The smell in the air was too clean, bordering on sanitized hospital air. She searched for a light and found one on a night stand next to her. Turning it on revealed a simple but spacious bedroom, with a kingsize bed, a desk with one chair, two chairs and a side table and a closet with a mirror besides it. This was a hotel room.   
As she swung her legs over the side of the bed, all the memories came back to her. After crying her eyes out, Reeve had offered to take her home, but in her emotional rambling she had said she didn’t want to go home. The man having offered his handkerchief again, called for a car and had brought her to a hotel. After that everything was very blurry, and she was still in her clothes, minus her shoes and outer jacket.   
A huge blush creeped up on her. She nervously checked the other side of the bed. She took a sigh of relief, the Director wasn’t there. She then chastised herself for even thinking such a thing. He had always treated her with the utmost respect, he wouldn’t try anything funny at the moment she was most vulnerable.   
As she stood up, she was a little lightheaded moving to the mirror when she spotted the hallway had a door which undoubtedly lead to the restroom.   
Opening it, she once again fumbled with finding a light switch and found herself standing in a sizable bathroom. Everything looked so clean and fancy, Riley didn’t remember the last time she was in a hotel. She winced when she looked at her face. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were swollen and framed with dark circles.  
After having cleaned herself up with whatever toiletries there were in the cabinets, she moved back into the hotel room. She passed her jacket, hanging neatly from a coat rack next to the door. Riley searched for her phone in her pockets but only found her wallet. She looked at the clock on the night stand, it was almost 8 am. She moved to the window and opened the curtains. Early morning light flooded the room and once her eyes were adjusted to the sudden change of light she peered outside the window. Tall buildings dominated the view, and between them she could see the everlasting green geyser of Mako pouring from Reactor 1. She was in downtown Sector 1.   
She turned around and leaned against the window. What was going to happen now? She had asked Reeve for help, but what could he do? Was he going to file a lawsuit against the hospital? Was he just going to take over? Would she still be able to do anything? Riley didn’t want to sit on her hands and wait for the storm to pass. She wanted to be a part of this, and she wanted to do anything in her power to get her father back on his feet.   
Mulling all of that over had brought her in a deep trance, one that she was violently shaken out of when a foreign ringtone echoed in the room. She shrieked and looked around the room. There was a phone on the desk, that was the one that was ringing. As she reached for it, she found her own phone resting on a piece of paper next to the hotel phone. Riley put the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she reached for her own phone.   
“Uhm hi?”  
“Good morning misses Thymos. This is a wake-up call as requested by mister Tuesti. Did you sleep well?” A kind female voice asked.   
“Yeah…” Riley opened the piece of paper.   
“I’m glad to hear that. Mister Tuesti also left a note stating that-“ the woman hesitated and then continued in the same cheerful voice, “that he left a note for you…”.  
“Yes I’m holding it here-“ Riley turned it over in her hand.  
“I’m glad to hear that. Reservations for breakfast were made for half past 8. Once you are ready you can head down to the lobby. One of our colleagues will take you to the dining area”.  
Riley had to keep herself from laughing. The note stated as much, only with more apologies and well meaning comments on Reeve’s side.   
“Do you have any questions?” The receptionist started the end of the conversation.   
“No thank you. Good luck today” Riley replied with a smile.  
“That’s very kind of you misses, you too have a lovely day. We hope to see you again at Ulyssiel hotel” the receptionist gave a genuine response. 

Riley had left her thick leather jacket in the room and had tried to clean her clothes up as much as she could. Walking through the lobby, she still felt like a shabby commoner amongst the well tailored employees and crisp suits that were walking around. One or two patrons gave her the side eye as she was led by a host to a large dining area. Trying not to ogle at the furniture, she was grateful to see a familiar sight in the slightly hunched over figure of Reeve buried in his laptop.  
He sat next to a window in a secluded part of the dining area which was almost completely closed off form the rest by decorative panels. He was on the phone, but as soon he spotted the host he hung up in a hurried fashion and stood up to greet Riley.   
“Good morning” he said a tad nervous and seemed to study Riley’s face carefully, “did you sleep alright?”.  
“Morning; ah thank you” she nodded to the host as he wished both of them a pleasant breakfast. Riley stepped up and moved to the other side of the table.   
“I’m sorry if I woke you up early, Miriam was only able to clear my schedule till 10, so I’m frustrated to say that our meeting won’t last that long” Reeve sat down.  
“Saying sorry sure seems like your specialty” Riley showed the note.   
“I’m-“ he started and closed his mouth with a guilty smile.   
“I’m just teasing. Humor helps me think” Riley played with the edge of her sweater.   
“A very common way of speaking your mind” Reeve confirmed.   
“But honestly. I should be the one to apologize. Dragging you here and keeping you from your work. Having you pay for all of-“ Riley made a weak gesture to the table and looked away with a blush, “this”.  
“It’s nothing. I come here often if I’m not in the mood to go home. It’s closer to the office anyway” Reeve countered and straightened his suit jacket.   
They were brought today’s breakfast menu and could choose the dishes as they so wanted. As the host left Reeve closed his laptop and put it away. “I’ve already taken the liberty to make some calls regarding your fathers situation” he cut right to the chase.   
“With your permission I would like to transfer him to another hospital. There, a specialist can take a look at his condition. I’ve already made a request to do so”.  
“That’s all very kind of you sir, but-“ Riley interrupted him, “I don’t want to sit quietly and let you take care of this. Not to take away from your generous offer but, I don’t want charity. If you are going to do me this favor, I want to repay you in full”.  
She raised her hands from her lap and put them on the table, leaning forward a little as she said sollemly, “I want to informed of any costs or medical bills. I want a complete overview of what my debt to you is so I know what amount I will have to work towards”.  
“Why that’s very considerate of you but I-“  
“Please sir!” Riley rose to her feet.  
“Please let me do this much. If my years spent in the slums has taught me one thing, is that you must never loose track of who you owe what”.  
“My apologies for interupting-“ a shy voice sounded to the side. A young girl with a serving cart stood waiting in the opening of the booth. She timidly asked if she could serve out the dishes and Riley sat down with a beet-red head.   
After the dishes and drinks were laid out and she had poured both Reeve and Riley a cup of freshly made coffee she apologized again. After bidding them a good day, she tried to make her exit calmly instead of running away from a crime scene.   
“I appreciate your honesty, and I understand where your sense of honor comes from. If that is your condition, than I will respect that” he smiled and gestured to the food.   
For a split second Riley forgot all her etiquette staring at the different forks and knives, but she recovered quickly remembering watching that one program when she was little. She hadn’t ordered anything fancy, and she was glad Reeve hadn’t either.   
As she took the first bite, she felt her stomach curl up. Wasn’t this like a date? She looked at her less then stylish clothing. The day before she had been hunting down monsters and fighting off thugs searching for loot. Now she was sitting in a hotel restaurant, where the price of the rooms per night would perhaps be more expensive then her monthly rent. She looked over to the businessman. She realized again how well a beard suited Reeve. She remembered his clean shaven face from that night, but the facial hair added a very esteemed quality to his person. Crowfoots and little lines had started to form around his eyes and forehead, but his skin was clear and slightly tanned, not something she would expect from an office worker. He looked up, his warm brown eyes almost seemed to glow as he smiled, “it’s nice isn’t it. I always like the food here”.  
Riley focussed herself on her plate again and silently prayed she wasn’t visible sweating, because her face felt rather hot.   
“Will you go back to your job at the Blue Mountain?” Reeve asked curiously.  
“No, I don’t think so. It was just a temporal fix after I got laid of from the construction company. I need to find a job with a higher pay scale so I can start saving up again” the woman switched to the slightly more comfortable conversation.   
Reeve took his coffee cup in his hand and halted before putting it to his lips. He thoughtfully stared at the surface before asking, “will you fall back on that security work you do on the side?”.  
“Perhaps” the man’s shoulders stiffened at the reply and he took a long sip, “as long as you’re a capable fighter, you’re hired. And the pay is good”.  
A bold idea popped into his mind, but it immediately got snowed over by a layer of doubt. Would she be okay with that? It might upset her again. But if she worked full time security jobs, she would be in full time danger. He looked at her heart shaped face. She had made an attempt to do her hair up, but hadn’t gotten farther then a slightly tighter bun. Long lashes brushed across roses cheeks and little freckles decorated her skin. She was such a beautiful, hard working young woman. He didn’t want her to put herself in danger.   
“What if-“ he spoke softly. Hoping she hadn’t heard it he took another sip and put the cup down.   
“What if… what?” Riley asked curiously.   
Reeve put down his cutlery and looked up. He suddenly felt his heart pound in his chest looking at her bright blue eyes. Feeling the hairs on his arms stand up he awkwardly rubbing his hand over his forearm in an attempt to soothe the prickling feeling.   
“Well, if you are looking for new employment. What if I were to offer you a job” he looked of to the side of her face.   
“W-wha… well I uhm…” she stammered.  
“I might have worked in construction but I haven’t been educated in anything business related- I-“ Riley pressed her lips together. “I wouldn’t want to be bother”.  
“Well you are, intuitive, you know how to file paper work. You’re confident and can direct the people around you” Reeve summed up and he remembered having this conversation with Miriam some time ago.   
“You see. Miriam is my secretary, and she’s responsible for not just my schedule but the planning for the entire department as well as administrative tasks. Lately we’ve been more and more busy and she’s discussed this with me before that perhaps it was time for me to hire a personal assistant” he folded his hands and looked up carefully.   
“A personal assistant? Don’t you need to have finished some sort of training for that?” Riley started to get a bit tense. A personal assistant? For mister Reeve? She would be with him all day. Directly speaking to him and being responsible for his requests or needs. She started to feel a bit giddy just thinking about it. If she worked for him, he was ensured of his money, was that why he offered it?  
Riley looked at his hands. He explained how with a little training under Miriam it would be all right as long as she was ready to learn. But during that rant, she saw how his hands were trembling and he brushed his thumb over his skin.   
Was he nervous? Why would he be nerv-   
Riley’s mind snapped back to the incident in the alley. How she had shouted at him. Shame slowly creeped up on her and she cast her eyes down. If I work for him, she thought, I can directly repay the favor. Make up for what I said. That isn’t so bad.   
“I’m a quick learner. I’ll manage” she agreed.   
Reeve seemed taken aback by her sudden cheerful response and asked again, “are you sure, I don’t want to impose-“.  
“It’s a big responsibility, and I’m honored you would trust me with it” she gave a bright smile, “thank you mister Reeve”.

“All right, I need to go now. I’ll have a car sent to your house tomorrow to pick you up. In the meanwhile I’ll have Miriam prepare the necessary contracts and such” Reeve stood outside the hotel and looked over his shoulder.  
“Are you sure you’ll be allright from here out? I can get you a cab-“  
“No it’s fine really. I’m taking the train back down and then a good walk to clear my mind” Riley folded her hands on her back.   
“Also, you don’t have to go through the trouble of sending down a car tomorrow. If someone can give me clearance once I get near the Shinra building, that would be nice” the woman suddenly found herself being a bit shy about being picked up by a company car. Having it pull up in the sector 1 slums would definitely draw unwanted attention.  
“All right, I’ll make sure someone is waiting for you” he took a quick look at his watch.   
Riley smiled and took a step back, “go on. Hurry, before you’re late”.  
“Right. I uhm-“ Reeve took two steps before fishing his phone from his pocket and checking the number. “If I have any new information I’ll send it to your phone”.  
“Sounds like a plan. Now honestly, get going” Riley urged him on.   
He gave a fervent nod and walked towards the taxi lane. Signaling one down he glanced over his shoulder before getting in. His hopeful look didn’t go unnoticed by Riley and she felt a little cheerful and she gave a wave before seeing him off.   
She watched the taxi disappear around the corner and took a deep breath. ‘If the Director is as scatterbrained as I think he is, it’s no wonder miss Miriam would want him out of her hair’ she chuckled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ch-ch-ch-chaaaang-eees


	6. Chapter 6

Riley had picked out the most formal looking clothes she had in her possession. A simple dark blue cotton pants with a soft yellow dress shirt and blazer. She didn’t want to go all out. More of a casual chique, she wasn’t about to be uncomfortable for her entire day wearing some tight pencil skirt or something similar. Not that she even owed any of that. She also put on some jewelry that she had bought for special occasions. Plain silver pendants hung from her earlobes and she put her hair up with a more decorative hair clip.   
Pocketing her phone and wallet in a purse, she swung it across her shoulder and made her way outside. She had told miss Estafez that she would be back quite late so if she had already made sure the old landlady had her lunch and dinner sorted.   
The train ride to the plate was uneventful, safe for that Riley suddenly felt very aware of how many business men and women got in during the trip and how all of them got off at the last stop, and Riley decided to just follow the row of workers.  
Coming closer and closer to the Shinra building, Riley found herself feeling smaller and smaller. She had never been this close before. It always looked kind of gaudy in the distance. But now it was both ugly and scary towering over her. She looked at her phone and went through her mails. She saw the picture Reeve had sent her of the employer that was supposed to be waiting for her. A young man with black hair and green eyes. His most distinctive feature was his half long hair and puppy eyes, but stepping inside the foyer she felt a bit overwhelmed. Taking small steps looking up at the huge ceiling and the modern chandeliers, her sudden change in pace caused some people to walk into her. They grumbled and sighed, but moved past her without saying much. Riley quickly stepped aside and tried looking for the man by the name of Wade. She decided the best course of action was to just register herself at the reception area and she moved forward.   
“Misses Thymos?” A man stepped up to her.   
“Yes?” She turned around and recognized the green eyes.   
“Ah thank God. Good morning, my name is Wade. Just Wade is fine. Miriam asked me to come pick you up” he eagerly extended his hand.   
Riley took his hand and found it clammy and a bit washy so she accidentally squeezed his hand a little too tight. A handshake was a very important way of gauging what kind of person you were meeting, and the first impression she got of Wade was that he was a newbie.   
True enough, he winced a little, commenting on the firm grip on Riley's part before asking her to walk with him to the elevator. Then stating the obvious that he was relatively new to the Department of Urban Development.   
“Don’t worry, I was nervous too my first day. Just keep calm and listen to what people say” he tried to assure her but Riley couldn’t quite see past the handshake just yet so she just gave a polite smile.   
“So what position did you apply for?” He tried to dig into her motivation with all the subtlety of a cow.  
“Uhm… an assistant. I’m meeting with miss Miriam today, right?” She tried to divert the attention. “Yeah, she was kinda weird about meeting you. She looked both happy and concerned” Wade shrugged.   
‘Great’ Riley thought, ‘I must have made a less than favorable impression on her while I was working at the coffee house’. The woman felt nervousness crawl up her spine as she stepped out of the elevator at the 30th floor. The foyer was similar in layout as the ground floor just not as grand. Riley registered herself at the reception, and the lady gave her a temporal badge that read ‘Guest’. Between picking up the phone and taking notes, the lady directed Wade and Riley to a meeting room where she was scheduled to meet Miriam.   
After making their way over there, Wade wished Riley good luck, which sounded genuine and she thanked him for escorting her. But when he lingered a little too long, Riley gave a little cough and he jumped realizing he was hovering. When he disappeared around the corner, Riley sighed a little. She had had tons of job interviews in her late teenage years, she really hoped she wasn’t as nervous as Wade was appearing right now. She knocked on the door and had to only wait 2 seconds before a familiar voice called for her to enter.  
Opening the door, she found a spacious looking meeting room with a large oval table surrounded by padded chairs. Everything was in the same family of dark blue hues as the rest of the office intercut with the bright red of the company logo. At the far end of the table stood Miriam. After introducing herself as Miriam Adelheid, she invited Riley to sit down, cutting right to the point. Riley closed the door and asked if they needed to put up an occupied sign, but with two taps on her phone, Riley heard a click like an electric sign had turned on and smiled.  
Walking up to her, Riley assumed Miriam was in her late thirties. She wore a grey business suit with a slightly more flattering blazer and a white dresshirt. Her straw blond hair was trimmed in a short bob and on her nose rested a pair of plain oval glasses. She seemed a very strict person, so when Riley sat down next to her she quirked an eyebrow and glanced at the glass of water she had put down on the opposite side of the table.   
“Oh I’m sorry, it’s just-“ Riley got up and retrieved the glass, “sitting on the opposite side of the table is such an offensive position, I did not wish to start this conversation like we’re on different terms”.  
Miriam’s thin eyebrows raised and she concurred with the statement by sitting down and putting down her phone next to a map of files. “You’re no ordinary girl, that’s for sure” she said thoughtfully and opened the map cover.  
“I strife to be as authentic and reliable a person as I can be” Riley tried to match Miriams stand off-ish tone.   
The secretary hummed and casually read through the files. “Your resume is quite varied” she said in a voice that was dripping in judgement. “I go where I am needed. Where I’m from, there is no such thing as job security” Riley countered quickly.   
“Ah-hah” Miriam’s grey eyes peered up to meet Riley’s gaze. “And do you feel that you are needed here?”.  
Riley caught the hint. Miriam obviously didn’t want her here. She probably wanted some well groomed, experienced office girl (or man) with a degree in business economies or something, that had a resume full with similar work experience. Not some girl plucked off the street.  
“If I believe mister Reeve’s statements then I believe I do-“ a biased ‘hmm’ sounded from Miriam, “but-“ Riley said firmly.   
“I assume me coming here must be a great insult to you. After all, what business has a commoner from the Sector 1 slums to do assisting one of the Directors of the prestigious Shinra company?” Riley took a deep controlled breath, but felt her hands tremble as the anger welled up in her by simply stating her hypothesis.   
“But if there is one thing I know. Is that mister Reeve put his trust in me. And above all else, I do not want to insult that trust by not even showing up at all” she gave a soft smile with harsh eyes boldly staring back at miss Miriam.   
She cracked and the secretary’s soft pink lips curled up into a smile saying, “that’s quite the conviction you have” she chuckled and leaned on her forearms slightly leaning towards her, “dear girl, I have nothing against commoners. My mother was from the Sector 3 slums. She and my father have worked their way up to the top of the plate and enjoying themselves a well earned retirement”.  
She chuckled and took of her glasses, wiping them with a hanky she had in her pocket. “You must forgive me. I did not wish to imply I am prejudiced or that I meant to insult you in any way”.  
She put her glasses back on and leaned back in the chair, “my coworkers do always say I come off as a bit stand off-ish”.  
“Comes with the territory, I assume” Riley added.   
“Quite” miss Miriam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She sat back up again and looked at Riley, “your honesty is becoming of you. I can see now why mister Reeve was so taken by you”.  
Riley had to resist the urge to smile like an idiot hearing those words and remained as formal as before. Seeing Miriam relax a little however was a good sign as she continued, “and if I must be honest as well, I was a bit hesitant when mister Reeve proposed the idea. The Director has-“ she paused to choose her words, “a tendency to see the good in people. Even if there is none”.  
“It’s not a bad quality per say” Riley replied.   
“You say that now” a little playful tone rose in miss Miriam’s voice and she gave Riley a knowing look, “but wait until you’ve worked for him for a couple of years, it can get a bit frustrating”.  
“That I can believe” Riley cast her eyes to the sky.   
“That being said-” miss Miriam picked up a pen and took out a paper from the map and put it in front of Riley, “I see no reason not to give you a chance. For starters you’ll enter a three month trial. You’ll be in training under me and I expect you to brush up on company regulations in your own spare time”  
Riley picked up the paper and read it carefully from beginning to end. She didn’t want to miss any fine print that suddenly bound her to twisted company standards.   
“While in training, you can stay at the company residential area. I’ve made arrangement for you to move into a small flat-“  
“Oh” Riley stopped reading and looked up.   
Miriam seemed a bit startled and asked in a confused tone, “is there anything the matter with the contract?”.  
“No it’s just-“ Riley shifted a little nervously in her seat, “the flat I uhm-“. Riley put down the file and decided to play it straight, “I have some people I take care of down the plate. If it’s possible I wish to keep my apartment down below”.  
“Company hours leave little spare time for side activities. And the position you’re applying for is not exactly parttime” miss Miriam stated honestly.   
Riley pressed her lips together and averted her eyes. She hadn’t thought it through that far. She just assumed she could make the trips up and down the plate daily by train. She had had jobs before that required her to work late hours, but she always returned home to that little apartment, walk up the stairs and check on miss Estafez. On her days off she helped out at the local day care, fixing clothes for the kids and playing with them. And she, like many other of the skilled fighters, always kept an eye out for outsiders who had ill intent, like pickpockets and scam artists. Staring at the pen in her hand suddenly made her realize, that was all about to change as soon as she would sign that contract.  
“It’s admirable that you’re trying to help the folk down the plate” miss Miriam said with a warm voice, “but don’t you think it’s time to think about your self for a change?”.  
Riley looked up at the woman. Her grey eyes were very calm and her smile inviting. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Riley thought of her father and the difficult journey she had made to get to this point.   
She breathed out a sigh and nodded in agreement, “you’re right”. Deftly scribbling down her signature at the empty spot, she put down the pen and smiled, “I look forward to working with you”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just setting the stage with a supportive character or two. I do tend to go off on tangents sometimes describing the character motivation and build the world. It must be appealing to some of you out there because I see a steady rise in hits and I'm very pleased with that. Thank you. Next chapter we'll get to the pining ;)


	7. Chapter 7

Flopping down onto the bed, Riley buried her head in her pillow and made a sound like she was permanently deflating. Raising her head for a moment she looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw it read 11 pm. The bedroom was a bit smaller then the one she had given up down below, but she was grateful since it was a company funded two room apartment. Once she would earn her full pay check she would start paying for it on her own, but Miriam had given her an advance to buy proper clothing. It had only been a week but already she was feeling exhausted. She had fought monsters that were twice her height, but somehow fighting paperwork and filing systems seemed even more daunting a task. It made the woman long for the simple life of slicing up drakes until they stop spitting fire at you.  
She couldn’t complain. She had gotten confirmation that her father had been moved to a new hospital and that they were running tests now. She wished she could have gone to visit him right away, but understood now why Reeve had had such a hard time getting a day off to visit his mother. And he was the Director for Heaven’s sake.  
She closed her eyes and thought of his warm brown eyes. She had barely seen him the past week. Miss Miriam had been working her to the bone. Dragging her up and down the building, introducing her to all the other secretaries of the different departments, showing her how to operate the systems, getting her to memorize the numbers of all the Stewards of the different Sectors and all the different subcontractors (curiously enough Yogg’s company was no longer on the list and it made her wonder if Torc and the others were doing all right), having her study up on the topside infrastructure, and many many other things. Riley wondered if this was what if was like doing a business degree on a college or something, only now it was condensed into a couple of weeks.   
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. One of her phones. She shuddered at the thoughts. She was now in possession of three phones. Two company phones, one for contacting and communicating with Miriam and one for the rest. And her own private one. It was one of the company ones. She recognized the ringtone but felt to tired to sit up and pretend to be awake. Who would call her at this time anyway. It wasn’t miss Miriam’s phone anyway cause she had set that series of ringtones and jingles to a more urgent and louder setting. So she let it ring, which it did for a whole minute before going quiet. Riley would find it curious if she wasn’t gathering the courage to get up and take a shower. A jingle sounded from her private phone and she decided that that was probably, slightly more important so she sat up and dug through her pockets to find it. Turning on the light on the night stand she unlocked the screen and opened her mails.   
‘How do you do misses Riley’ it started and Riley shot up and nearly dropped the phone. She stared at the sender. R Tuesti. Riley dug through her memories and remembered having given him her private number. She feverishly searched for her company phone and saw the call was indeed listed as Director Tuesti. Riley’s heartbeat was suddenly deafening as she stared at the two phones on her lap. Should she call him back? Wouldn’t that be impolite? But he called her at 11 pm, what was she supposed to make of that? Did he want to check in on her? She picked up her private phone which looked very practical and well old fashioned next to the spiffy new company phone. She didn’t know why she hesitated scrolling past that first line but found her thumb was trembling a bit hovering over the button. Riley shook her head and gave herself a lecture about how she shouldn’t be such a baby.   
‘Forgive me for calling at such a late hour, I didn’t realize what time it was when I did’ Riley cast her eyes to the ceiling reading the second line and felt a big smile bloom on her face. She fell back onto the bed and continued scrolling down.   
‘Miriam has just left the office and she had given me a report on your work this past week’  
He’s still at the office? Riley hid her smile behind her hand.   
‘She said she was very pleased by your determination, and that she had high hopes for your continued contribution. Miriam isn’t the one to state those kinds of things out loud, so don’t tell on me’   
The woman imagined a furious Miriam silently staring down a nervous Reeve. Riley held back a laugh and her phone slipped from her hand, falling on her forehead with a thunk. Cursing under her breath she sat up and rubbed her forehead. Rolling on her stomach she unlocked her phone again and continued reading the mail.   
‘I was just wondering how you were doing, if that isn’t to bold to ask’ Riley felt a blush creep up on her face.   
‘Do let me know if I could be of any assistance should you want to visit your father in the hospital tomorrow’ Riley realized tomorrow was her day off. She slowly felt a little more awake and read the last line of the mail.   
‘I’ll leave it at that. I will see you Monday at work. Have a nice day. Reeve’.  
Riley pursed her lips and stared at the reply button. What should she reply? Should she even reply? It would be rude not to do so. But he was her boss now, wouldn’t texting your boss at midnight be a no-go?   
Riley rolled of the bed and walked to the bathroom, her phone still in her hand. She winced a little when the bright bathroom lights turned on and made for the sink. The woman put the phone on the dresser and looked at her reflection. Checking her skin for any pimples or stray hairs her mind wandered off. She thought of the offer Reeve had made her and going to the hospital together. He would pick her up in a car of course, she wandered if he owned one himself, or would just be driven around by a chauffeur. What would he be wearing? A variation of a suit she supposed, she could really see him in a sweater or anything other than a blazer. She turned her attention to her hair and started combing it with her fingers. She could do her hair up. It was a wavy thick mess, she often didn’t get further then a bun or a bushy ponytail. Riley smiled thinking about meeting her father again. Hope blossomed in her heart that this time, things would work out. He wasn’t conscious much, the pain killers mostly kept him under, but she hoped he would be awake long enough for him to meet Reeve.   
Riley’s attention snapped back to the present and she started at her reflection with wide eyes. ‘How would I introduce Reeve to papa? Hi this is my boss, he made sure you’re in a better hospital now and oh, I work for Shinra now’.   
Riley grabbed her toothbrush to distract herself for a bit. But while brushing she got nervous again and thought, ‘yeah right. Like Reeve would want to meet my father. He’s probably trying to be understanding’.  
‘And even if he would. What would papa think of him? Would he think he was some fling or something-‘ Riley almost dropped her toothbrush. Staring at her reflection she quickly rinsed out her mouth and latched on to the edge of the sink. “What am I thinking! Stupid brain! Can’t you think of anything else?!” She chided herself and grabbed her pendant. Suddenly she was painfully aware of how fast her heart was beating. Just thinking about the possibility made her heart flutter. Riley tried to push that idea far away in the back of her mind again. He was her boss. A kind businessman who was just trying to help out. Nothing more. He would never be anything more! But the more she tried to deny it, the more her brain started to fantasize about how a relationship with him would be like and Riley found herself laying on her bed again, staring at her screen, like a lovestruck teenager.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we've all been there. Arguing with ourselves whether our feeling are valid. Now what will Riley do on her day off? Next time on DragonBall- I'm joking I'm joking. But this was a lot of fun to write. Onto the next


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's awkward Reeve time

“What are you thinking of dear?” A hand brushed over his forearm. Reeve snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his mother with a smile, “nothing really mother”.  
“Sound like a whole lot of nothing” the woman hummed and closed her book. The wind blew through her hair and as the sun creeped through the leaves it sprinkled her skin with little dots of light.   
Reeve was happy to see her outside again, having rolled her wheelchair out to the courtyard just underneath a large tree. He had turned his phone of completely not letting it spoil the brief yet peaceful time he had with his mother. She folded her hands on her book and gave him a judging look.   
He tried again convincing her it was nothing but she replied with,”Reeve Alistor Tuesti, after 35 years I think I ought to know when my son is upset or not”.  
Slightly irritated at the remark, he leaned his hand on his chin and slightly looked away. He shouldn’t feel upset about this at all. After all, he had called her at such an inappropriate time. But not answering at all didn’t seem something that Riley would do.  
“The woman I told you about before-” he started and his mother replied with a knowing “ah” before leaning back into her wheelchair. “Her father is now currently staying at this hospital. And I had offered her to escort her here-“  
“Did you do so while directly speaking to her?” Misses Tuesti intervened.   
“No-“ Reeve cast his eyes to the sky when he heard his mother click her tongue in a disagreeing tone.   
“I tried to call her but she didn’t answer. Most likely because it was late. But I didn’t want to leave it at that, so I sent a mail to her private number-”  
“And let me guess. She didn’t reply?” Misses Tuesti ripped of the proverbial bandaid. When her son didn’t reply she hid her smile behind her hand as he folded his hands and started twiddling his thumbs, just like her late husband would always do.   
“Oh dear Reeve, you’ve always been terrible with women” she mused and peeked at the ring on her left hand.   
“Mother I told you before I am not-“  
“Not interested in misses Riley, I know” she pursed her lips and turned the book over in her hands.   
“Even so. This kind of situation asks for a gentle approach. How would you feel if your boss would want to come with you to visit me” she pointed out.   
Reeve couldn’t imagine a situation where the President would ever be interested in the personal lives of his staff and grimaced at the mere thought of needing to introduce him to his mother. He realized then was an unnecessary breach of privacy that would be. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.   
“Exactly” misses Tuesti huffed.  
“Why did you reach out to her anyway?” She continued to prod at his insecurities.   
“Mother please-“ he groaned and leaned back into the bench.  
“Oh don’t be so childish. This is the most realistic drama I can get outside of my books” she remarked and shifted a bit in her seat, like she was trying to get comfortable before putting on a serial.   
He shrugged and answered, “I suppose… I wanted to let her know that-“ saying the words out loud proved more difficult that he thought and he took a deep breath before starting again saying, “I completely overturned her life. She moved into a new apartment, gave up her life below the plate, she’s been working almost 10 hours a day. Not to mention she must probably be worried about her father. I can’t help but feel responsible for her. I wanted to let her know that… I was there for her. Seeing as I got her into this mess”.  
“What about this situation is messy?” Misses Tuesti asked critically. “Sure it’s a topsy turvy transformation, but her life and the life of her father is going to change for the better. And from what I know, she’s a hard working girl who won’t back down from a challenge, yes?”.   
“And she agreed to it by her own volition, yes?”  
“Ye-“  
“Than what’s the point? You shouldn’t feel guilty about a choice she made. You’re always thinking to hard on these kinds of things” she waved it away.  
“Maybe her reply got lost in that blasted device that has taken over your life” she pointed at his jacket.  
“I checked before I left this morning. And it’s turned off” Reeve showed the dark screen.  
“Did you try turning it back on?” misses Tuesti raised her eyebrows.  
“Mother, that’s not-“  
“Turn it back on” she urged and leaned her elbow on the armrest of the wheelchair.  
Reeve reluctantly indulged his mothers request and turned it back on. Immediately after restarting, a digital waterfall of messages and mails poured down from the top of the screen. But one in particular made his heart skip a beat. He hastily scrolled through the messages and as he opened and read the mail, misses Tuesti watched with a content smile.   
‘Morning mister Reeve. I just now read your message. I’m so sorry for not replying right away, I fell asleep like a brick when I got home last night. I’m on my way to see my father right now. Thank you very much for the offer though, I really appreciate it. I’m looking forward to working with you tomorrow. See you then. Riley’. The time stamp read 11:47, 15 minutes after Reeve had turned his phone off. His cheeks were flushed as he buried his face in his hand. He felt so embarrassed to have been so worked up about the simple miscommunication. It didn’t help that his mother chuckled and reached out to pat his head saying, “see. This old girl might not know much about technology, but I do know about communicating”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw an episode of Downtown Abbey and I was in a mood because of Dame Maggie Smith


	9. Chapter 9

Getting out of bed didn’t seem like such a hard task for Riley today. She felt great. Her father had been conscious during her visit and he looked a lot better in her opinion. Maybe it was because of her loathing to the previous hospital not being cooperative in his treatment, or maybe it was that he was now in a private room with a ton of sunlight streaming in.  
He had been confused at first, asking his daughter what was going on. His smile grew larger and larger as she kept going and he stated he was happy that she had made it big. Riley was quick to dismiss it, saying she was only on a trail but her father stated again that he was glad she was taken care off now. Riley had caught on to that telling statement. She knew her father had accepted the fact that he might die soon. It wasn’t like he was longing for it. He just didn’t seem any reason to fight anymore. Especially now that he knew his daughter, all grown-up and independent, had essentially landed a great job and was living in downtown sector 1 instead of in the slums. She feared he might throw in the towel completely and just let the Mako poisoning eat away at him completely, knowing that his little girl was looking forward to a prosperous life. Neither of them had said anything regarding the matter, and Riley had simply left him with a kiss on his forehead and the promise she would visit whenever she had free time.  
A doctor approached her on her way out and discussed the options with her. They had a simple beauty to them, their colored skin and shaven head being accented by their bright green earrings. They were positive there was a possibility they could remove the tumor. The trouble was that there was always a possibly of a relapse and the aftercare would be very intense. There was the possibility of a follow up of chemo therapy, but Riley didn’t feel much for having her father injected with more chemicals, so she said she would think on it. The doctor had asked Riley’s permission to run some more tests including an MRI and she agreed to it. They gave their promise that they would give it their best shot and would let her knew as soon as they could plan the surgery, and this time, Riley wholeheartedly believed in it.  
Getting on the bus to work, Riley scanned through her mails on her company phones. They were mostly from Miriam, asking her to memorize all of the materials she had sent her because they were going to attend to a few meetings today. And with them, she meant, all three of them. Riley was finally going to work directly with Reeve and she felt a bit excited. She had been a bit distracted with the whole white lie she had told him about reading the mail in time. And even more so that he hadn’t replied at all. Thinking of that lingering plot point, Riley hoped she hadn’t offended him in any way by refusing his offer. Either way she was going to find out soon.  
Checking in to the Shinra building started to become mundane to her. Swiping her card across the scanner at the elevator prompted a brief pop-up on the screen that read, “Welcome Riley Thymos, P.A. Department Urban development” and Riley felt a dubious feeling bubble up. One the one side, she was kind of proud that was her status now, on the other she felt wary about her whereabouts being tracked from this point on. Because no corporate company would ever miss out on the opportunity not to register and record everything that was being said and done by their many employees.  
Riley tried to look past that. Hers was a department that dealt directly with the needs of the people. It wasn’t anything like the Department of Scientific Development and Research, who’s Director seemed to have a mythical status amongst the average employees as being extraordinarily creepy. A man who Riley hoped she would never have to meet in person.  
Riley got to the 30th floor and was greeted by the receptionist Ilya. She was around Miriam’s age and was a bit distant to her. She clocked Riley in, notifying her that Miriam was stuck in traffic and mister Reeve was waiting for her in his office. She did so in a very disinterested tone, barely making any eye contact, the latter being more annoying to Riley then she would admit. She however gave her a big smile, thanked her, wished her a good day at work and walked off.  
As she got near the office she got a mail from Miriam which also noted she was going to be 10 minutes late and sent her today’s schedule, asking Riley to go over it with Reeve as they waited for her. Should she not be there at 8:30 Riley was to escort Reeve to the location immediately and not bother waiting for her. Riley suddenly felt a bit nervous… a lot nervous. It felt like big test of competence, and it coming directly from miss Miriam wasn’t helping. Riley memorized the time stamps, locations, mode of transport, subjects of the meetings, names of those present, that wasn’t difficult. It was the fact that she was being thrown into the abyss that spooked her.  
Riley stood in front of the office, the doors looking a little more decorative then the rest on the floor. She reached for her pendant, absently tracing it with her fingers. It served as a sort of therapeutic habit, she rarely noticed doing so unless someone would point it out. It did it’s job calming her and she took a deep breath before knocking on the door.  
“Come in” she recognized Reeve’s  
“Oh, that must be miss Miriam” a secondary voice spoke in a strange high pitch and foreign accent.  
Not questioning the presence of the person, Riley opened the door with a slightly vigorous move, hoping to strike a confident pose while saying, “good morning mister Reeve”. But instead she shrieked when she heard something collide with the door with a loud metallic thud and rushed around the corner.  
“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” She said and wanted to kneel down to help the second person up. Dumbfounded she stared at the form of a large upside down tuxedo cat who’s tiny golden crown rolled to her side. She picked up the crown in a reflex and cast a questioning look at Reeve who stood near his desk, simply covering his eyes with a smile.  
“Oh dearie me, that was a bit of a tumble” it spoke and turned around. Riley watched as it got up on it’s hind feet and dusted it’s arms. It wore a red cape and looked almost like a toy if it wasn’t for it fully moving and it’s very realistic looking fur. Quietly Riley reached it the crown and it looked up cheerfully replying, “oh cheers lass. Much appreciated”. It took the crown and put it on its head followed up with by it putting it’s gloved hands on it’s hips in a proud yet cartoonish fashion.  
“H-hi…” Riley started.  
“Hullo. Oh that’s right, we haven’t really met yet. Dinna fash, this happens all the time” it proudly reached out a hand.  
“Ma name’s Caith Sith. It’s nice to meet ye Riley” Riley took his hand out of politeness, even though she was still trying to wrap her head around a toy like robot walking and talking like it was no one’s business. But as soon as she wrapped her fingers around the gloved hand which was almost as big as hers, she felt how warm and squishy it was and could finally suspense her disbelief. A big smile bloomed on her face and she couldn’t contain herself exclaiming, “it’s so cute, it’s like a Moogle. Where did you get it”. Riley looked at Reeve who had gotten out from behind his desk and walked towards them with a forgiving smile.  
“I didn’t get him from anywhere, I made him. It’s a bit of hobby that got out of hand” he scratched the back of his head. Reeve froze when she suddenly lifted Caith Sith of his feet and hugged him tightly to her chest. Caith protested slightly saying, “wah, whaddare ye doing lass?” but as soon as Riley said, “that’s amazing look at it’s fur. It looks so real. You’re so pretty” Caith turned a bit shy and rubbed the back of his head and mumbled, “oh yer making me blush”. Riley stood up still holding Caith and beamed at Reeve, “I didn’t know you were such a good craftsman mister Reeve”.  
But she noticed his stiff shoulders and felt herself instantly sink through the floor. ‘What a stupid childish outburst’, she lectured herself, 'he must be so embarrassed about me’. She nervously looked over her shoulder and praised the Gods that the door was closed. If Miriam had walked in on the scene, she would have handed in her resignation right there and then.  
“S-sorry… it didn’t mean to make a scene” she mumbled and felt herself inadvertently squeezing Caith’s soft body more tightly to her chest.  
“It’s not that, ye see-“  
“Isnot that, ye see-“  
Riley heard two voices. One coming from Reeve, and one coming from Caith Sith’s, but both spoke at exact the same time as they said, “I can control these robots with this device” Reeve removed a earpiece from his right ear and showed it to Riley while averting his eyes.  
“I can hear, see and talk through them. I sometimes use them to do menial tasks for me…”  
Riley’s brain put two and two together pretty quickly, but her body wasn’t so fast on the uptake. She felt a huge blush creep up on her as she apologized and quietly put Caith Sith down. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye just yet and instead looked at the small lounge area of Reeve’s office.  
“They mostly act independently” Reeve added quickly, he too couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact and instead fixed his tie after putting the earpiece back in. “But the AI sometimes pushes their feed into my own without prelude. That’s what… caught me off guard”.  
Caith Sith stood between the two, looking from one side to the other with a confused tilt of his head. The cat walked to Reeve’s side and tapped him on the leg.  
“I’m sor-“ Reeve started but Riley interrupted him and said, “it’s fine. I overreacted. I apologize”.  
After having stated those three lines in a very stiff voice she visibly relaxed and looked up with a soft smile, “it’s good to see you again sir”.  
“The feeling is mutual. I will apologize however for my message earlier this weekend. My timing was less then impeccable”  
“It’s allright, I’m sorry for the late reply. I really did appreciate it though” Riley replied with a nervous edge to her voice.  
“Did you end up seeing your father?”  
“I did- I” Riley suddenly realized her task and snapped out of the trance.  
“Never mind that. Miss Miriam sent me your schedule for today, have you had the change to look into it yourself?” She switched to a business attitude and pulled out her company phone.  
Reeve was caught off guard for a second but acknowledged that this wasn’t the time to have a social talk and swiftly transitioned into a business attitude as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some fun with Caith's mannerisms. It's hard to write a Scottish accent without going overboard so I tried to keep it subtle. I find it funny that the description says that the Caith dolls are controlled completely by Reeve but the cheerful attitude of Caith is almost a polar opposite to him so it's hard to imagine him feign that personality to a tee. I theorize that Caith has a basic identity, is self aware (I'm referencing the fact that he only referred to himself in first person once and it was before he was going to sacrifice himself) and he can move and act on his own for the most time but he can be taken over completely by Reeve if he want's to. But just because he's got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts doesn't mean he isn't his own character/person. And I love him :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So we're not going to mention said country by name. I added the bit at the end to express that this isn't a one sided thing, and because I wanted to make Caith a bit more playful about this thing. They're not dense about their budding feelings, just in denial :3c

During the past few weeks, Riley felt like she had become faster at texting then she had ever been before. Her thumbs were busily typing away as she walked behind Reeve. Finishing the mail as he called down the elevator, she tapped his shoulder and handed her the phone so he could check it before she hit send.   
“Yes, that sounds good. Let’s just hope they answer before the day is through. I want to start the repair work on the A5 as soon as possible” the doors opened and he gestured her to get in first.   
“Yeah the complaints of the bigger transport companies are coming in thick since that bridge was closed. I’ll make sure to call Irina’s office in about half an hour. That should be enough time for them to read it through” she made a mental note of it and checked Reeve’s schedule. “If you want, I can spook them by planning a meeting tomorrow at 4:30”.  
“Don’t I have a meeting planned at 4:45?” Reeve said in a mildly confused tone.   
“Well yes but. They don’t know that” Riley felt a little devilish smile tug at the corner of her mouth.   
He covered his smile with his hand and hid the chuckle in an obviously fake cough that almost made Riley laugh out loud.   
“Already got the message ready. Just tell me to hit send” she waved her phone playfully.  
Reeve looked over his shoulder and quirked an eyebrow. As the doors opened to the 30th floor, he agreed with a nod and said, “should it come to it, I expect you to bear the consequences should they expect me to be there. Which I can’t” he added.  
“It won’t come to that. If I know anything of my experience with bureaucrats is that little confrontations like this will often put them in their place” she pocketed her phone and pushed past him. “Come on, we need to be at room 4a”.  
“Ah yes, Roberto should have the contracts of the Lilium project ready” Reeve remembered and reached for his phone to quickly read over the bullet points  
“Yep, and after that, you need a break!” Riley threw daggers in his direction as she stopped next to room 4a. Reeve awkwardly pocketed his phone again and straightened his tie. If there was one thing Riley was more strict on than Miriam was his scheduled time off. She made sure he had as little interferences as possible, often escorting him directly to a resting area and sitting close enough to keep an eye on him.  
Some of their co workers had started to lovingly refer to Riley as Hawkeyes. Since she could always be found keeping an eye on the situation from a corner of the room. As the meeting started Riley did just that and stood next to the door as the two men sat down at the table and started reviewing the documents. At one point, Reeve’s phone on the table started buzzing, distracting him for a moment but as he glanced down he saw the screen flicker and Riley from the corner picked up the phone using her own and said “Riley Thymos speaking, mister Reeve is in a meeting can I take a message?” before slipping out of the room.   
Roberto glanced past Reeve’s shoulder and snickered, “she certainly takes charge doesn’t she?”.  
Reeve made a weak gesture before putting the phone down again and smiled to himself. “I hardly have to answers any incoming calls these days. It’s honestly a delight to have some breathing room when it comes to meetings like these”.  
The two men continued ironing out the bumps in the planning and wrapped up the meeting in a timely fashion. Just as Riley knocked on the door and stuck her head out stating, “sir, your break-“  
“Yes, we’re done here. Thank you again Roberto” Reeve shook the man’s hand and walking with him to the door.   
“And thank you mister Reeve. We’ll get this project up and running as soon as possible” the older man said excitedly and smiled as Riley held open the door.   
“Good luck sir, I’m looking forward to see that new park in the near future” she beamed and gave him a thumbs up.  
“I’ll make sure to invite you both for the opening” Roberto replied and walked into the left corridor.   
Reeve stood next to Riley and they both watched him turn around a corner and disappear from sight.   
“Who was that call fro-“  
“Your break sir” Riley said sharply. She walked out from the meeting room and planted herself in the middle of the hallway, blocking Reeve from possibly going in another direction then to his office. He buried his face in his hand and resigned himself. As he started to walk towards his office, he heard Riley catch up to him swiftly and smiled to himself. She had started out a little unsure, but after she had picked up the pace, Riley would jump in or take over at the drop of a hat. He found his schedule less and less busy, though it was just as full as always. Miriam was able to leave the office at closing hours instead of constantly working overtime with him, something that she was very grateful of.   
“What are you feeling like eating sir?” Riley asked as she opened the door to the office. She had a warm smile on her face, a big departure from her normal stoic expression as she glanced up from her phone.  
“I’ll order something myself don’t worry about it” he gestured for her to go first. She hummed in a questioning tone and moved towards the padded seats.  
“Hi Caith” she said cheerfully as the cat popped up from behind the desks to the left.   
“Hullo” he skipped over to her and jumped up the other padded chair.  
“Did you organize the files of the Capricorn hall allright?” She asked him directly.  
“Ay, they’re all tidied up neatly now” he raised his hand to which Riley replied with a high five.  
“Wait you had him do what?” Reeve asked curiously.  
She could see his attention go inwards as he accesses Caiths memory and reviewed it through the earpiece. He blinked a couple of times and huffed, “huh. I didn’t now that was still wasn’t filled correctly”.  
“Miriam had mentioned it briefly. Caith said he was bored so I had him organize it” Riley patted his head and sat down in the chair, Caith happily planting himself in the chair next to her.  
Riley stretched her arms above her head and cracked her neck from left to right before settling in the chair and picking up her phone again.  
“It’s your break as well” Reeve reminded her as he watched her start typing again. She perked up a little and as she realized she had already started replying to a mail from Miriam she sighed and looked over her shoulder and said, “we can order from that falafel joint down at 5th street. They’re always happy to deliver”. She saw him light up a little, she had started to get to know his tastes and favorite restaurant. Riley dialed the number and put the phone to her ear as she walked to the desk. As she reached the desk, Reeve’s phone buzzed again and he was about to pick it up when the restaurant owner picked up as well. She quickly switched the phones around and put hers in Reeve’s hand. Caught off guard by her sleight of hand Reeve looked between the phone and Riley’s cheeky grin before her expression hardened again and she picked up with “This is Riley Thymos speaking. Mister Reeve is unavailable at his moment, can I take a message?”.  
She watched Reeve answer the restaurant owner stumbling over his words before he found his words again and calmly gave his order.   
“And uhm…” His brown eyes shot up to Riley.   
Riley grabbed a pen of his desk and scribbled down her order as she calmly continued, “yes I understand. No you’re absolutely right. Alright, well that’s some good news. I’ll inform her department. No no- it’s fine. I’ll do it. Of course, it’s no problem. Ok, thank you for your hard work. You too, bye”.  
They hung up at the same time and stared at each other for a moment. Both burst into laughter at the same time and Reeve said, “at this point we could practically switch jobs”.  
Riley threw her hand in front of her mouth and returned Reeve’s phone to him. “Oh I’m sorry, that was- that as beautiful”.  
The un-contained giggling continued as Reeve showed her the note saying, “I could barely decipher it”. Riley crumpled the note and swiftly stuffed it in her pocket, “well even if you got it wrong, I’ll still eat it”.  
As their laughter died down Riley turned around and started typing a message to Miriam about the matter. “When you said her department I assume you meant-“ Reeve started.  
“Oh yes, baroness from Stuck-up” Riley sat on the edge of the desk and hit send on the message.  
“I take it you met her” Reeve chuckled and leaned back in his chair.  
“Mmm… yeah lovely lady. The only thing bigger than her ‘assets’ is her ego” Riley said nonchalantly.   
The muffled almost guilty sounding laughter from Reeve’s side made Riley smile and she looked over her shoulder to see him brush his fingertips over his mustache while trying to keep his laughter under control.   
“Don’t keep it in. You can laugh all you want” Riley encouraged him.   
“The lass is right” Caith sat on the back of the seat and rocked his feet up and down in a playful manner. He looked directly at Reeve and said, “Yu know. Yer more cheerful. A pure like it”.  
Confused Riley tilted her head a little and tried to figure out what the robotic cat had said. She turned to Reeve and asked, “what is that accent you gave him. I’ve never heard it”.  
“Ah it’s my late fathers native language. He came here from an island quite a way’s from here. I’m not surprised you’re not familiar with it” Reeve explained and touched his cufflinks in a way to distract himself.   
Riley immediately spotted it was a touchy subject, so she decided not to delve too deeply in it. She instead continued with, “you sometimes tend to adopt some of the words in your own speech when you’re angry or tired”.  
“Really? I try to not to. My mother was always strict about my speech” his eyebrows raised. “She would always lecture me and my father when I was young. That he was trying to persuade me to talk in his tongue rather than in plain English. He would then laugh it off saying it was his accent that she fell in love with” his expression was content, reliving a nostalgic memory. But it quickly changed, as did his tone when he said, ”after he died, I was afraid I would hurt mother if I talked like him. So I stopped”.  
“Well, I think it’s nice. It’s proof that, you’re your fathers son. That’s sometime to be proud of” Riley said confidently.   
Reeve looked at his hands. They were folded tightly while he was twiddling his thumbs. After a second or two he looked up with a soft smile and said, “I don’t often speak of my father. It’s nice to relive some of the happy memories. Thank you” and his hands relaxed.  
“I’m glad to hear it” Riley reached out and placed her hand on top of his, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. Their eyes locked and for a brief moment, the office seemed to melt away. Riley relished in the warmth of his large hands and found herself briefly glancing at his lips. She felt the irrational urge to lean forward and kiss him. Cutting herself off mid thought she quickly turned her attention to what Caith was saying, “that wee doodad is ringing”.  
Riley quickly looked at the phone in her other hand and saw it was a notification that the delivery boy was near the Shinra building.   
“Oh it’s our food. I’ll go pick it up” she hopped of the desk and turned beet red when she realized she had been sitting on Reeve’s desk like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Needing to put some much needed space between them, she refused Reeve’s offer to let Caith pick it up and hurried out of the room while trying to hide her face as well as her embarrassment. 

“Reeve? Why is yer skin doing that?” Caith walked around the desk and studied the man’s face.  
“W-what are you talking about?” Reeve pinched the bridge of his nose, while turning the chair away from the cat’s scrutinizing gaze.   
“Ooooh. I remember now. It’s called blushing, right?” The cat pointed out with a little impish tone. Reeve cursed himself for programming the AI to be so observant. His hand lowered and his fingers lingered over his lips. ‘She looked like was going to kiss me’ he came to a sudden realization. He shook his head and tried to calm his heart which had started beating faster then he liked, ‘no that’s ridiculous. She’s 23. Why would she even be interested in… No I’m imagining things. Just forget about it’.


	11. Chapter 11

There was a big event coming up. A gathering of the big business partners and collaborators of Shinra to discuss future plans. But in Riley’s mind, it was an excuse to hold a big party. Reeve was invited alongside Miriam, some of the senior employees and of course Riley herself. The planning had been announced some time ago and Miriam and Riley had already reviewed it. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.  
When talking about it with her father, he had encouraged her to spend some money buying a nice dress to wear. At first Riley had been against it, not wanting to make an unnecessary purchase. But after coming home and looking through her wardrobe she came to a daunting conclusion that all she had in terms of formal wear, was thin suits and jackets. She looked at her favorite, a dark green one which she normally wore with a sunflower yellow shirt. Reeve had complimented her whilst wearing this, as did Ilya. The receptionist had warmed up to her, much to Riley’s delight. She had later explained that she had been jealous of Riley’s quick ascension to the top. But after doing her a solid and clearing up a conflict with one of the subcontractors, she had loosened up a bit.  
On her way home from work one day, she had rung up an old friend of hers which lived in topside sector 7. Felicity was the most fashionable girl she knew. It was a bit of a double edged sword, calling in a favor from her. Since it would involve a copious amount of dress fitting, but Riley was prepared to bite the bullet and met her on the Sunday before the event.  
Riley wasn’t much of a fashionista, she preferred more practical and comfortable clothes. But she wasn’t divorced from her feminine side either. It was just that the only party dress she had, was a little to short, and a little to bold for a work event. Riley tried to remember why she had even bought that dress, but was quickly pulled from that daydream when a woman with pink curls swung her arm around her neck and pressed three kisses on either of Riley’s cheeks.  
“Riley darling, so wonderful to see you again” she said cheerfully and held her at arms length. “Hi Felicity” Riley smiled and returned her kisses, “you look great”.  
She had met Felicity in Wall Market. She was a struggling fashion designer back then, mostly working for the Honeybee Inn as a tailor. Riley at the time had been working as a delivery girl and frequently met her behind the stage. Back then, her hair had been a mousy brown. But after some encouragement on Rileys part and moral support as she had talked to Andrea about it, Felicity had entered a designers competition which later on she had won. Now she was working with an exclusive fashion studio which focussed on haute couture and other wearable art.  
Riley had shot down the idea of going to the studio right away, she was not willing to be a mannequin for whatever extravagant art piece she had cooked up. She had given Felicity a clear budget and dress code. The pink haired woman had been a bit disappointed with such a statement, but respected Riley’s wishes as they entered a smaller boutique.  
“So, tell me about your boss” Felicity sat down in the armchair and crossed her legs. She put her chin on her hands and waited patiently as Riley went through the selection she had made. Riley could have sworn she saw Felicity’s eyes sparkle as she asked that question and felt very self conscious a she shrugged and said, “what’s there to talk about?” Trying to downplay the situation had the opposite effect and Felicity teased, “you know. What’s he like? Your knight in shining armor”.  
“Oh please, it’s nothing like that” Riley’s voice rose a little.  
“That’s not what I’ve heard” Felicity hummed and smiled deviously.  
“Well by all means. Enlighten me. That way I can tell you exactly how wrong you are”  
Riley took two dresses and disappeared in the cubicle, happily pulling the curtain in front of her.  
“I heard that he planned to steal you away from that construction company you worked for”  
“I think any plan that involves letting yourself willfully be attacked by monsters to be a stupid one”  
“And that he persisted on seeing you when you started working for the coffee place. And that he even brought you flowers”  
“Those were for his mother in the hospital” Riley interrupted her.  
“But you wished they would have been for you, didn’t you” Felicity posed a question two which Riley felt herself unable to find a witty response.  
“And that you two spend a night in a love hotel-“  
“That is completely and utter bullshit- Where do you get this gossip from anyway?” Riley hissed as she yanked the curtain aside.  
“Oh I’m just teasing darling. You should have seen your face” Felicity laughed. She stood up and gestured Riley to step outside the cubicle.  
Riley did a little turn around as directly by Felicity who’s grey eyes looked at every curve of her body with a professional gaze. The salmon A line dress had a subtle floral embroidered pattern and a halter top. Felicity put on a belt and tried to match it with a clutch and scrunched her face.  
“No I don’t think that’s it, but take a look for yourself” she gestured to the mirror.  
Riley held the skirt in her hand and tried to pose a little for the mirror, trying to boost her confidence.  
“You said it was a formal party right?” Felicity held a thin looking sheath dress. It was a bold red and had navy blue decorative buttons  
“If you make me wear that, I’m out of here” Riley disappeared in the cubicle again.  
“I need to look representative. I don’t want to embarrass mister Reeve. Or even worse, piss off Miriam” she shivered. She tried to imagine what Miriam would be wearing, but could only picture her in suit and skirt.  
Felicity handed her another dress from behind the curtain and said, “because it’s soooo important that we don’t embarrass mister Reeve”.  
“For real though. There has to be ‘something’ going on here. Come on. Be honest about it. I swear on my wife’s grave, I won’t blabber about it”.  
Riley slipped into the purple strapless dress and sighed, “it’s… it’s a bit difficult to explain. I just… I owe him a great debt”  
“He’s not taking advantage of you in any way, right?” Felicity dropped her teasing act entirely and spoke in a serious tone.  
“No!” Riley looked at her through the mirror and said, “Reeve isn’t that kind of man! He’s a kind, hard working and honest man who just wants to make this world a better place”.  
Riley saw Felicity stared at her with wide eyes. It was then that she realized she had almost been shouting at her. Her eyes softened and her dusty pink lips formed into a wide smile saying, “he’s really important to you, isn’t he?”.  
Riley nervously rubbed her forearm and looked away, “Like I said. I owe him. Back then, I was on the verge of giving up. But knowing he believed in me, it gave me courage”.  
Felicity stepped into the cubicle and placed her hands on Riley’s shoulders and said, “well then. Let’s get back to work”.  
She gathered Riley’s hair and tried to roll it up in a braid as she said, “we can put up your hair, with a nice, delicate collier around your neck”.  
“I’ll make sure that mister Reeve won’t be able to keep his eyes of you” she said with a confident grin.  
“Please don’t. This isn’t some fairytale ball” Riley’s shoulders drooped a bit.  
“That’s too bad because I have a big poofy ball gown as a back up. But for now, let’s try this little black dress” Felicity pulled out said dress and draped it on top of Riley’s chest before walking out of the cubicle and closing the curtain.  
“How do you feel about stiletto’s?” she said from behind the curtain.  
“As footwear or as a blunt weapon?” Riley deadpanned.  
“Either” Felicity chuckled.  
“It’s unpractical”  
“… True”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some preamble to a larger set piece in the next chapter. Last night my friends and I were talking about going dress shopping for a wedding of one of our mutual friends. One of them, is a very shy person who's not that big on colorful clothes. I just starting thinking of dresses


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a big boi. Time for some action >:3c

“Ok, now close your eyes. Let me just, put a little high light right here in the corner of your eye” Felicity pursed her lips and she dipped the makeup brush in the pearly white powder. Gently dotting it in the corners of Riley’s eyes she laid the finishing touch on her look. Lifting the brush of her skin with graceful twirl, she admired her work like an artist did a painting. She stood up from the chair and said with a big smile, “ok now open your eyes”.  
Riley nervously opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times. She saw the pure delight on Felicity’s face and from the kitchen, her wife Holly gave a thumbs up as she walked past. She got up from the chair and looked at her reflection. She was a little flustered, Riley couldn’t remember the last time she had worn a full make up look with two layers of foundation, translucent powder, bordeaux red lips and a bold green smokey eye. Her hair was tamed by Felicity’s hair straightener and her dress was hung up next to the mirror.  
Holly had given her a manicure since that was her profession and Riley for once wasn’t ashamed of her shorter stubby fingers and lack of nails, since now they were covered with long fake ones.  
“Oh darling, you do look a picture. I just wish you had gone for that jasmine blue prom dress. I could have gone all out with a-“  
“But I didn’t” Riley interjected quickly and grabbed hold of both of Felicity’s hands before she reached for the glitter again. She held them tightly and said with a warm and appreciative voice, “but I am really really grateful for this. Thank your Felicity. And Holly, thank you too”.  
“You’re welcome honey” she quipped from the kitchen as she put the dish which she had been making in the oven.  
“I’m sorry I can’t stay for dinner though. I need to pick up Miriam and mister Reeve earlier in the evening”.  
“Don’t worry about it. Now, let’s put on the dress and do your hair. Then we can finish the look with some accessorieeees” Felicity said excitedly. 

“Ok, have a great night darling. Don’t remember to touch up your lipstick every so often” Felicity waved from the top of the stairs as Riley got in the car.  
“I’d love to see you someday at the nail salon. I’ll give you a discount” Holly added and joined Felicity in waving.  
“Thank you again. And enjoy your meal. That soufflé smells delicious”  
Riley got in and put the clutch to her side as she strapped herself in. The chauffeur mister Philip closed the door and got into the drivers seat, greeting her with the standard “Good evening misses Riley”.  
But after turning the key and driving away she could see him smile from the rear view mirror as he said, “you look wonderfull in that dress, if I say so myself”.  
“Thank you Philip, that’s very kind. I tried to pick the least gaudy one. I just hope it was the right choice. Allright, let’s pick up Miriam before we’re going to get Ree- I mean mister Reeve” Riley quickly checked her clutch. Through some miracle, she had managed to stuff all three phones in there as well as her wallet and the lipstick which Felicity had given her. She slipped out the company ID badge, thinking she might have to identify herself upon entering and tried to find a good accessible spot to put it. She got an idea and checked if Philip wasn’t looking. She shuffled around the hem of her off shoulder dress and stuffed the badge in her strapless bra. She just had to get it out before coming near the security check, and far- faaaaar from Reeve’s sight.  
Pulling up at Miriam’s adress, Riley felt the urge to get out and greet her, but Philip, duty bound got out for her and greeted Miriam before opening the door. Riley was pleasantly surprised to find Miriam dressed in a smokey purple A line dress with a light cardigan and a small shoulder bag. Her hair was also done up in a curly bun and she wore a modest yet noticeable shade of golden eyeshadow and salmon pink lipstick. She smiled as she got in and greeted Riley with a more upbeat tone.  
“You look lovely Riley” she complimented her and Riley returned the compliment by telling her the same.  
“If I have to go off on any of the previous gatherings of this type, it will be an uneventful evening. Just be prepared to shake a lot of hands, and pretend to be interested in a lot of pointless conversation. However the music arrangement is nice every year around, so that’s something to look forward to” Miriam sighed and automatically checked their schedule.  
They were already on the road and as the car started getting closer and closer to Reeve’s house, Riley noticed a big knot starting to form in her stomach. Which grew tighter and tighter as she recognized the street sign while waiting for the turn. She watched as Philip got out of the car once again and walked up the staircase. Riley knew where Reeve lived and what the building looked like since she had often driven with Philip to either go pick him up or drop him off. It was a large apartment building in Sector 2. The building was a bit older and exclusive looking, but some some odd reason Riley had half expected Reeve to live in some sort of manor house with a big garden or something. She had to remind herself that he was a bachelor, and that his mother normally lived in the smaller house near the park in, so there wasn’t a need for him to live in a big empty house.  
She sat on the road side of the car, trying to distract herself by looking at the passing cars as the door opened again and Miriam greeted Reeve. She knew she had to look at him at some point, so she swallowed her embarrassment and looked up as Reeve said, “good evening Riley”.  
Her smile faltered a little as her mouth almost fell open. He wore a dark teal suit with a fitted jacket and a dark blue tie. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t much different from his normal suit and tie, but there was something about the intense hue of the fabric and the golden cufflinks that was very suiting for his person. She looked at the clutch in her hands to distract herself and it was then that she realized. The top of her bottle green dress was decorated with a floral golden pattern. Their clothes were matching set.  
Trying to calm herself and push all of those thoughts into the background caused her to be a bit quiet as Miriam and Reeve carried the conversation. She was only half paying attention and only reacted when directly being addressed. The ride to the mansion was a quick one. It was apparently some mansion belonging to mister Shinra himself which he barely used. But having a lavish party was a good enough excuse for him. Philip joined in the line leading to the front entrance and Miriam already unbuckled her seatbelt. Riley tried following her example but accidentally dropped her clutch in her nervousness.  
Her phones and the red lipstick rolled out and scattered on the car floor. She apologized and bend forward to gather it all up. Reeve however beat her to it and picked up the items and the clutch before handing it back to Riley with a smile, “it’s okay. There is nothing to be nervous about. Just see it as another regular meeting. Only a bit more extravagant”.  
Riley pressed her lips together and took the clutch back. She gave a nod and happily lied about being nervous about the party. But was she was really nervous about. What she was really nervous about, was standing next to Reeve while wearing her green matching dress.  
It didn’t help that when Philip got out and opened the door, Reeve got out first and stood next to the door to extend his hand, offering it to Miriam. As he helped her out of the car, Riley nervously shifted on the couch, wanting so badly to just open the door on her side and get out herself. But she knew it was somewhat of an insult towards Philip to do so. She clenched her teeth together, reached for Reeve’s hand while she wished her hands weren’t as clammy as she thought they were. 

Reeve felt Riley’s hand tremble a little. Was she really that nervous about attending? He quickly forgave her for that, it wasn’t exactly the normal business setting. He tried to give his warmest and most encouraging smile as she swung her feet out of the car onto the gravel. She wore black pumps and wobbled a little on the gravel. But as soon as she stood up straight, Reeve could finally see her completely in the bright overhead light of the entrance.  
She wore a bottle green empire dress which fell about 3 inches over her knees with off the shoulder sleeves which rested elegantly against her pale skin. The bust of the dress was decorated with a fine golden embroidery which curled around in a decorative floral pattern. He had never seen Riley with braided hair. A large braid wrapped around her head under which a tight bun rested in her neck held up by a large green hair pin. Never one to wear excessive make-up, Reeve realized now how striking her blue eyes were when framed in the green smokey eyes. He saw she was slightly biting her bottom lip which were a vibrant red and couldn’t help but stare at them for longer than he had anticipated. Riley only briefly made eye contact with him as she mumbled, “you can let go of my hand now sir” and quickly placed her hand on top of the other as she held on to the clutch.  
“You look stunning” the words escaped his lips and he clenched his jaw immediately after. Fearing it might be completely out of line he awkwardly shifted on his feet as he saw Riley’s face turn red underneath the layer of makeup.  
“Philip, go ahead to the parking lot. We’ll call on you when we’re ready to leave again” Miriam broke the silence and urged the two to go inside before they held up the line any further. 

It was as Miriam had foretold. Riley smiled, shook a lot of hands, faked a lot of laughter and listened to a lot of unnecessary pointless conversations. The downside however was that because mostly everyone already knew Miriam, but not her, she had to also be introduced to a lot of people. And seeing as they often asked Reeve, not her, he always led the introduction. Every time he did, she felt more and more self conscious about being introduced as his personal assistant, and wished feverishly that people wouldn’t take that the wrong way.  
From what Felicity had told her from gossip on the street, and what Ilya had alluded to, was that there was a big chance that people saw her as his secret lover. Whenever a fellow employee of the department joined into the conversation like Roberto or Nora the conversation would be more in her favor as they acknowledged her hard work and talent for taking action. But when it was just her and Reeve, Riley felt more and more aware of the fast that the person’s eyes glance from one to the other, as if trying to connect the dots.  
At one point she excused herself as Reeve was talking with the Steward of Sector 3 about some restoration project and gratefully slipped away from the crowd. She roamed through the hallways and searched for the least busy bathroom. At one point she saw a young woman with a thin black suit and short blonde hair. Riley assumed she was with security because she thought she spotted a holster beneath her jacket. She asked her if there was a nearby bathroom and the blonde woman gladly directed her to the one around the corner. She thanked her and continued her journey. As she closed the door behind her she took a deep breath, hearing the music and the chatter almost die off completely.  
She walked to the sink and put her clutch on top. Leaning on the sink she carefully looked up at her reflection and sighed again, “I knew I should have gone with that storm grey dress”.  
‘The one with the longer sleeves and the not so obvious top and just wear my hair down’ she continued in her head as she held the dress in her hands only to let it fall down right away.  
She looked up again and saw her lipstick was slightly fading. Groaning she took out the lipstick and rolled it out.  
‘If I’m going down, at least I’m going down in style’ she lamented and hoped that she wasn’t making Reeve look bad. But judging from what most of the other higher ups were like. Elderly white men with to much money or time on their hands, Reeve now supposedly having some younger fancy woman was probably a good thing in their eyes. She wandered if he knew they looked at them in the that context. But even if he did, he would be to embarrassed to talk about it, for sure. In passing conversation Miriam had mentioned Reeve had only been in a serious relationship with two women since she had started working for him and both had ended rather unceremoniously for him always putting his work first. Miriam had also mentioned never to talk to Reeve about it, because he was very defensive and almost seclusive about it. Seeing at this was in the circle of talking about women, Riley had already made peace with the fact she was never going to talk with him about this. Not that she even wanted to.  
Sorting her thoughts and being in a quiet room for a while, calmed her down significantly and she made her way back out again. As she opened the door, the blonde woman made a startled noise and apologized right away.  
“It’s allright” Riley said, not knowing what the woman was apologizing for, “here, it’s free”.  
she held open the door.  
“I’m sorry. It’s just. I’m so thirsty I just wanted to get a sip of water. But I can’t really leave my post or else my senior might catch me off guard” she mumbled.  
And immediate sense of compassion sprung forth from Riley’s heart and she immediately defended her decision, “it’s just couple of seconds. If he gets cross about that, he’s just being a petty asshole”.  
“Here, I’ll stand watch, you go freshen up” Riley offered and gestured for the women to step in.  
“T-thank you. Oh but I really shouldn’t-“ the blonde woman started  
“Yes you should, go on. I’ll wait out here” she insisted and stepped outside.  
She folded her hands on her back and leaned against the wall opposite of the bathroom, pretending to wait for a friend. She glanced into either side of the hallway. Except for some guests at the far end of the crossing, the hallway was pretty much empty. As the blonde woman opened the door again, she thought she saw a flash of red but ignored it as the woman said, “thank you so much”.  
“It’s allright. First assignments are always scary” she comforted her.  
“How did you-“  
“I’ve worked in security jobs before. I know the feeling” Riley explained.  
The blonde’s face cleared up and she said, “being ‘the intern’ is so stressful sometimes, especially with my Reno bearing down on me. Oh, my name is Elena by the way”.  
“Riley Thymos. I-“ Riley hesitated, “I work for the Department of Urban Development”.  
“You’ll be allright. Just hold your head high and your eyes open” Riley patted her shoulder before moving away from the wall. She gave small wave at Elena and walked around the corner. She didn’t want to go back to the just yet, instead she wanted to circle the quiet halls some more. Without her noticing she started to look for security camera’s and memorized all the doors, like she would if patrolling on a security job. A habit which was very hard to shake. During her walk she spotted a lovestruck couple giggling and kissing before disappearing in a room. She would have rolled her eyes if it wasn’t for an eerie sensation running up her spine. As the door closed, she heard the person come to a stop behind her, their heels coming down a little to harsh to remain unnoticed.  
“Yes, can I help you?” She stated calmly.  
“Well it’s my job to take out sneaky little spies. And you were walking around a little to calmly for my taste” a smooth male voice spoke. “And don’t give me that excuse that you were looking for the bathroom, you were just there a few minutes ago”.  
Riley decided to turn around and was met with quite a tall man with bright red hair who didn’t seem to know how to button up his shirt properly. He had a playful glint in his green eyes as smiled, “I’m gonna need your ID love”.  
Riley gave an exasperated sigh and started to look in her clutch when she suddenly realized where she had put her ID card. A little stiffly she tried to turn away from him but the redhead said, “nuh-uh-uh. Eyes up front”.  
Riley got a little annoyed by his playful tone and kept intense eye contact as she smiled and pulled out her ID card from her bra.  
The man whistled and said, “that’s a nifty hiding place” and turned the card over.  
“Oh you men don’t know the benefits of wearing a bra”  
“Got anything else hiding in there?” He sassed and pointed from one side of her chest to the other.  
“Why don’t you try frisking me, I’ll tell you exactly when you’ve crossed the line” Riley quickly pulled the card from the man’s fingers as he offered to return it.  
“I do love a little bit of spice” the man’s tongue moved behind his teeth like he was about to lick his lips.  
“You’re Reno I assume” Riley crossed her arms.  
“My reputation proceeds me” Reno answered with a smug grin.  
‘Poor poor Elena’ Riley sighed.  
“And that suit, you’re with the Turks, right?” she was little curious and posed the question.  
“Yup. You’re a very observant little P.A. aren’t you? You walked those halls like you were on patrol” Reno gestured over his shoulder.  
“I think you answered your own question there” Riley smiled and casually checked her clutch.  
Reno chuckled and raised his hands like he was surrendering himself. He told Riley she was free to go and stepped back, planting his hands on the back of his head.  
“If you’re ever bored of working for that tired old sock Reeve, you can always come join the Turks. I can ensure you it will be much more exciting” he gave another toothy grin.  
“I’m sorry, I’ll have to decline. But I’m not the kind of person to find enjoyment out of doing the dirty work” she made her final statement and turned around. 

Riley circled back around and stopped to stand on the first floor looking down onto the large reception area. It was full of people, but she was only really searching for one person. Spotting Miriam first, her eyes circled around her until she found Reeve standing just a few feet away from her. Miriam seemed to be enjoying the life band that was playing a calm jazzy tune and Reeve was still talking to Steward Heinzel. She took a moment to just stand there, leaning on the railing and observing the guests. She now spotted more of the Turks, calmly moving around the crowd with purpose. Riley spotted one tall black man with a bald head as she saw something move in the corner of her eye. Some 10 feet away Elena walked out of the hallway and gave a little wave before stepping up to the railing and following Riley’s example in observing the guests. After a while Riley waved at Elena and gestured that she was going to get a drink and pointed at Elena. The blonde looked around timidly, no doubt searching for Reno and gave the tiniest of nods. Riley gave a thumbs up and moved towards the stairs on her side.  
Walking back from the bar, Elena gestured her to follow her into a secluded hallway again and Riley followed, keeping a sharp eye for the redhead.  
“Here you go, one alcohol free cocktail” she reached her the glass.  
“Thank you so much” Elena started and took a big gulp. Riley smiled and stood opposite of her, calmly looking out the window while taking a sip of her own drink. She hoped Reeve didn’t take this personal, her staying away for so long. But she counted herself lucky that she didn’t have to listen to Heinzels endless talking.  
Riley looked out into the walled garden. It was a cloudy , but as soon as a pair clouds allowed it, the bright moonlight illuminated the decorative garden. It was a nice looking garden, if it wasn’t for Riley spotting an abnormality.  
“Elena-“ she started in such a serious tone the blonde perked up and looked around cautiously to see if Reno was nearby.  
“Don’t look around-“ Riley urged her and took calm and long sip from her glass, while peering into the garden.  
The clouds blocked the moonlight again but Riley had already seen it. “What’s wrong” Elena asked in a more serious voice already putting down her glass on the window sill and moving into a wider more grounded stance.  
“There is a person outside” Riley spoke softly and put down her glass as well, “and if there is one thing I know. Is that people sneaking around, aren’t invi-“.


	13. Chapter 13

The glass rained down on them as the windows were shot before they broke through. Two people jumped through the window on one side as a third jumped in on the other. Riley, after instinctively having protected her face and neck from the scattered glass with her arm, lunged herself at the first two hostiles, leaving Elena to deal with the hostile number 3.   
They didn’t need to exchange words or shout commands, they didn’t have the time. Hostiles 1 and 2 both had guns, with mufflers attached to the nuzzle. They had clearly intended to make a quiet entrance and sweep the first floor before moving down and cornering the guests. She rushed forward not allowing them to get their bearings. Riley grabbed the extended hand of hostile one as he raised his gun after recovering from his entrance. As he was still kneeling down, it was quite easy to raise her foot and stomp down hard on his elbow, fracturing the joint. Smoothly prying the gun from his hand as he wailed, she aimed it at the hostile 2 who had gotten up and moved out of the way, firing three shots as he ducked to the side, almost running into the wall. She surprised him when she threw her clutch at him, allowing her to close the gap and grab his arm with her free hand. Using her weight and the hand which was still holding the gun, she slammed his arm into the wall, causing him to drop his weapon. She shot his knee and allowed him to collapse to the ground as she kept a firm grip on his arm. Throwing the gun aside, she now had both hands to grapple him and choked him till he fell unconscious. Raising her head she saw Elena had taken care of hostile 3 and was tying him up with heavy tie-wraps before moving to hostile 1 and doing the same.  
“Throw me one of those” Riley held up her hand and Elena quickly threw her one. Tying his hands on his back, she quickly checked for communicators and other weapons. She picked up her own personal phone, she stuffed it in her bra and rose to her feet.  
“Did you call it in?” She moved to Elena and saw hostile 1 had a hunter knife alongside a 9 caliber handgun. She unbuckled the belt and strapped it around her waist just as Elena said, “I did”.  
Riley noticed the blood in her mouth and the red skin on her right jaw and he asked if she was allright, Elena nodding with a frustrated expression.   
“We need to be fast, they might very well have this place surrounde-“ both women perked up as they heard gun fire from the great hall followed by screams and counter fire no doubt provided by the Turks.   
“You take the east side of the wing. I’ll sweep the west. Let’s circle around and meet back at the staircase” Riley instructed and took the MP5 from hostile 1 which she had now also squeezed unconscious. She checked for extra ammo as Elena still stood next to her gawking, her mouth opening and closing as if searching to say something. “B-but you’re a civilian…” she stammered.   
“I’m a Shinra employee who can also handle a gun, I don’t see the problem here. Now get moving” Riley stood up and noticed her wobbling on her feet. She looked down at the pumps and huffed. Hanging the MP5 around her shoulder by the strap, she took them of one by one and broke off the heels before throwing them out of the broken window.  
“Elena, now!” Riley cradled the automatic rifle and started running down the west end of the hallway. Glancing over her shoulder once, she saw Elena start running down the south end holding her hand gun in her hands and disappearing around the corner.   
She spotted more broken glass and quickened her pace to catch up with the new hostiles. She could shoot hostile 4 in both legs with the automatic, but 5 had already turned around and aimed at her while trying to cover 4. Riley ducked and rolled behind a table. The vase and other antiques on top of it got shot to pieces and rained down on her but Riley took the temporary cover to switch to the handgun in one hand as she raised the automatic in the other. Curving her arm around the corner, she shot off a few scattered rounds, causing hostile 5 to stagger. Jumping up she raised the handgun and shot him in the shoulder as he was trying to reload. She shot him two more times in the hip and knee to make sure he wasn’t getting up and walked over to them. She knocked out hostile 4 with a right hook, 5 had already lost consciousness because of the pain. Still she tied them both up with the strap of the MP5 and relieved them of their weapons, throwing them through the window, safe for an ammo clip for the automatic. She wobbled a little on her feet, the improvised shoes weren’t really ideal, but at least she wasn’t wading through scattered glass barefoot. She heard another volley of bullets being answered by more heavy gunshots. Raising the sight of the MP5 she saw a couple of panicked guests burst around the corner. She lowered her gun and shifted it to her left hand while raising her right to show she wasn’t going to harm them. The woman squeaked seeing the bodies and her male companion jumped in front of her. “Relax I’m with Shinra” Riley pulled out her ID card and slowly walked up to the two so that they could clearly recognize the logo. The man’s arm still hung in front of the woman as he asked cautiously, “what’s going on?”  
“That’s what I’d like to find out. What’s going on down there?” Riley replied.   
“I saw one of those black suits- the Turks, rush forward all of the sudden. Then gunfire- everywhere”   
“So they’ve got the ground floor surrounded. Great” Riley groaned and looked around. She saw a door and urged the couple to go inside and barricade the door. The man eyed the downed enemies and Riley was grateful that she had thrown out the guns. She wasn’t too keen on an untrained civilian to pick up a gun and potentially hurt themselves trying to be a hero.  
She continued through the hallway and took out three more hostiles, one being fast enough to actually put up a fight as they got close enough to punch it out. Riley rubbed her sore stomach and straightened her back. She disassembled the handgun and scattered the parts as she moved towards the viewing area. She crouched down and moved towards the railing, spotting a couple of guests huddled behind a big pillar but the centre had mostly been cleared. Riley peered down and saw there was a small struggle going on between some hostiles and the Turks. Grabbing the scout rifle which she had picked up from the latest encounter she aimed trained the sights on the back-up as they broke through the front door.   
She wasn’t the best long distance shooter, but the cover fire startled the hostiles and distracted them long enough for a familiar figure to shoot forward and swiftly taking them out. Reno looked up and gave a casual wave as he twirled around a baton in his other hand, a big grin planted on his face. Riley rolled her eyes and reloaded the rifle with the last few round she had on her. She directed the stragglers to hide in the hallway which she had come from and continued to the stairs. She saw Elena get to the staircase before her and nodded as she gestured she was going ahead. The blonde joined Reno and the two moved out the front door.   
A screeching voice grabbed her attention and Riley’s eyes followed a group of guest as they scuttled across the wall into another hallway. She moved to take out the potential hostile and recognized Miriam huddled behind an overturned table.   
She checked the surroundings before making her way over to her and kneeling down behind the cover.   
“Miriam” Riley said as she firmly shook her shoulder.   
“Riley!” The woman squeaked as she raised her head from her knees.   
“Are you hurt?” Riley asked and tried to check if she had any mayor wounds.   
“R-Riley was are you- where did you-” Miriam stammered as she looked at the scout rifle and MP5 with big eyes.   
“Are you hurt!” Riley said a bit more firm trying to snap her out of her panic. It did the trick as Miriam shook her head and her eyes focussed.   
“Where is Reeve” Riley’s popped her head out from behind the table and scanned the room again.   
Miriam took a deep breath trying to calm herself down as she said, “he was standing near that pillar opposite of the salon” Riley’s scathing eyes trained on the pillar and saw stray bullet impacts on the pillar, but no dead bodies.   
“Ok, we’re gonna move. Miriam stay close to me and try to watch our six. I want you to duck to the ground at the first sight of danger” Riley instructed her and took the automatic rifle in her hands. She saw Miriam’s frightened eyes linger on the weapon, so she raised one hand and laid it on her shoulder. Squeezing it she reassured her with a smile, “it’s going to be ok. Just stay close to me and do as I say”. Miriam swallowed thickly and pressed her lips together. She looked up and nodded firmly, signaling to Riley that she was ready.  
Riley stood up and scanned the area through the sights of the automatic before nodding to Miriam to follow her. The two women stuck to the sides as they made their way to the salon. A scream coming from the salon alerted her and Riley readied her rifle. She heard the hostiles bark orders to get to the ground and heard a body fall to the ground. Checking behind her Miriam had already kneeled down behind the door of the salon so Riley nodded following her example. Kneeling down she inched closer to the door opening and peeked around.   
‘A hostage situation, of course’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really good in writing action scenes


	14. Chapter 14

The door was only half open so it only gave Riley a limited view of the situation. There were three hostiles afoot, now dubbed number 8 through 10. Hostile 9 was standing in the middle looming over the person he had knocked over. He shouted for the rest of the guests to pipe down, emphasized by aiming his gun at his head. She counted at least 12 guests inside, most of them with their backs against the wall. Hostiles 8 and 10 flanked number 10, holding their guns up to force the guests in line. The shattered window at the far end suggested that they had snuck in while the first wave had been taken out. She grimaced, she had hoped that Reno had been quicker than that.  
Miriam carefully padded Riley’s shoulder. Her fearful glance wordlessly asked her what was going on and Riley shook her head, almost signing in army signs that she needed to stay put, but instead made the simple gesture pointing to the ground where she squatted.   
Inside the hostiles were discussing their next course of action, wanting to use the guests as hostages to draw out the president. Something in Riley told her he wasn’t about to show up to save the skin of his employees. That would be a very selfless act and mister Shinra did not seem like very selfless man. He had probably been the first to be carted off to some safe room as Elena had called in the attack.  
Riley checked the ammo of her guns, the MP5 was almost empty and the rifle only had 2 more rounds. Not wanting to go in with so little heat she looked over her shoulder and searched the area. A few downed hostiles from the first wave were sprawled out in the foyer, curtesy of the Turks. She spotted something that might be of use and considered moving away from her position next to the door. There was a possibly they would barricade the door and windows, that would be the smart thing to do, but it would be disastrous for a possible rescue operation. She looked at Miriam, biting her lower lip. The older woman was still terrified but as she noticed that Riley was looking at her attentively she mouthed, ‘what’s wrong?’.  
Riley gestured at the body of one of the hostiles and then at Miriam. She saw her pupils dilate a little as Miriam instantly realized what Riley was asking of her. The secretary hugged her arms around her knees as she stared at the body. Riley drew her attention with a little wave and gestured to her belt and back to the body. Miriam gave a little nod and seemed to brace herself to stand up. Giving her a moment to gather her courage, as soon as Miriam started to move in a straight line towards the body she gave a little click of her tongue. Gesturing the secretary to move around the pillar and stay out of sight of the door, she stayed and watched a while as she tiptoed around the pillar keeping her gun at the ready to provide cover if something jumped out at Miriam. Miriam visibly flinched as she stood next to the body. She wouldn’t know if he was unconscious or dead, but judging by the little puddle of blood, it was safe to assume he was dead. Riley felt for her, seeing a dead body for the first time was certainly a traumatizing event, let alone needing to loot their body.   
Riley gave and encouraging nod as Miriam had peeled the belt of the man and stood back on her feet, wobbling a little as she did. She peeked over her shoulder to the situation. She had kept half of her attention on the conversation and it had just grown a bit tense. The hostiles were bickering amongst themselves, saying things how it wasn’t supposed to go this way, and asking over a comm if anyone had eyes on the target.   
“Screw this, let’s just grab one as an insurance policy and get the hell out of here. I’m not waiting for the boss to blow this operation, it’s already busted” hostile 8 shouted at 9. 10 agreed and moved a little bit closer to the middle, still keeping his sights on the hostages on the right side of the room. Riley couldn’t quite see around that corner without blatantly sticking her head around the door so she watched closely as 9 and 10 spoke in hushed tones.   
She heard Miriam step up next to her and Riley raised her hand, moving it downwards slowly to signal she had to slow down a little. Eying the belt briefly she quickly spotted another hand gun, a welcome sight for firing in close proximity.   
“Ok get up” the situation escalated as 9 nudged the man on the ground with his foot. The man in question not moving an inch, instead curling up into a fetal position and muttering pleas and crying to be saved. Riley handed Miriam the MP5 switching it for the belt and turning it over in her hands.  
“I said move!” 9 shouted with a low voice.  
“Wait!”   
Riley had almost dropped the belt. It would have been a grave error as the sound would have no doubt alerted the hostiles inside. She had a split second to keep herself from audible gasping for air as he stepped up to the hostiles, hands in the air and his expression grim.  
“Take me. I’m the head of one of the departments, I’m a much more valuable hostage” Reeve’s voice was cold and distant but the heavy breath he took after saying those words pointed to the terror he felt having three guns pointed at his face.  
The same terror that Riley was feeling. Her eyes bulging as she clenched her jaw and forced herself to look away. Her trembling hands fuddled with the grenades and other explosives that were strapped to it. She wished on any God she could think of that she had indeed spotted what she needed most right now. A flash bang. Adrenaline rising she looked to the side. Miriam had thrown her hand in front of her gaping mouth, she had recognized Reeve’s voice as well.   
RIley jutted out her chin and gave Miriam the belt. She again raised her hand and made the slowing down gesture as Miriam almost ran to hide behind the pillar Riley had appointed her to.   
“Wait, check outside” 9 barked.   
Riley grimaced and shoved the handgun behind her belt, freeing one hand to latch on the pin. Rising to her feet she took one deep breath. Like a diver hovering over the abyss before leaping into the water, Riley listened with closed eyes to every sound.  
She pulled the pin, counted the seconds and thew it inside at knees length before quickly switching to the hunter knife.   
9 screeched it was a grenade but couldn’t act in time as it went of at the fifth second. Still keeping her eyes pressed shut, Riley stepped into the door opening and reached out her leg. As the blinded 9 stumbled through the door opening, Riley felt him trip over her leg and immediately jumped on him and tried to pry the gun from his hand. Hostile 9 struggled and fired it blindly where he thought Riley was. Feeling two impacts on her arm and shoulder, Riley powered through and twisted his arm, hearing the bone snap. The woman shoved to her feet and ran into the room. The light had disappeared and the groaning and screeching of everyone in the room. Riley trained her eyes on hostiles 8 and 10 who were, just like everyone else, hunched over and rubbing their eyes. Hostile 10 was a little bigger, so he was the first one to go. Riley brought the knife down swiftly on his shoulder, snapping his collar bone and causing him to scream. But it had the desired effect Riley wanted as his already disoriented form, dropped the half automatic he had on him. Hostile 10 however wasn’t going down without a fight and threw his arm around RIley’s neck, blindly trying to grab her. She ducked out of his and instead grabbed the arm with both hands, and used both his weight and the power of an upwards knee to deliver two quick blows to his abdomen. Reaching over his back she grabbed the knife still lodged in his shoulder and twisted it. Knocking his feet out from underneath him, she turned his body as he fell and clamped her legs around his arm as he fell down onto the ground. Pulling with all her might, she popped his arm clean out of the socket and left him wailing as she rolled off of him. Kicking the half automatic far away from him she shifted her focus on 8 which had recovered slightly from the flash bang and aimed his rifle at the hazy blur that was walking straight towards him. Riley boldly kept walking and grabbed the rifle, moving it away from her torso and decking him across the face with a short and powerful fist to the jaw. He staggered backwards and barely registered as Riley pried the gun from his hand before throwing it aside. She stepped forward the finish it but he proved to be more intuitive and moved to the side to try and tackle her. She jumped to the side and used the time it took for him to turn around to grab the handgun and fire one warning shot into his shoulder. At this range, she wouldn’t miss. He screamed and reached for his shoulder wound. For a tense minute of panting and waiting he shouted, “for the planet” and lunged forward, hoping to knock Riley of her feet with a side sweeping kick. Casting aside the gun, she braced herself and bared the hit, feeling her ribs break. She willed through it, looped her arm around his leg, grabbed his throat and used both of their weight to throw him on the ground. The impact of the fall didn’t knock him out, but the second blow to the same side of his face did and his body went limp beneath her.   
Riley’s chest heaved up and down, she pushed herself off the man and moved to her main focus. Realizing how heavy she was breathing, she focused on her breathing for a moment and got it back under control as she reached out for the searching hand.

He had stumbled backwards over the man and had mostly kept his head low. He recognized her voice as she grunted and breathed heavily. Feeling hopeless trapped in his position, when he heard the shot being taken his head had shot up. Hearing the man shout before a heavy thud shook the floor made his heart sink. Muttering her name, he had tried to get up, feverishly searching with his hands where Riley was. The white light that had filled his eyes was slowly receding but he wished his eyes would readjust sooner.   
“Reeve” a sweet voice called to him and he heard footsteps come towards him. Shifting on his knees he turned towards the sound and latched on to the hand that he caught with his own and pulled so hard that Riley fell against him. Losing his balance he pulled her down with him and couldn’t help but tightly wrap his arms around her.   
Feeling lightheaded by the second bonk on the head he stared at the ceiling, blinking continuously to try and ban the white dots of light.  
“Reeve?”Riley stirred in his arms. He didn’t relinquish his hold on her, instead he squeezed her a little tighter.  
“Tha thu sàbhailte” he breathed out. She was here in his arms, he had so hoped she wouldn’t get herself into trouble. As he was herded into the salon and kept quiet as the assailants had threatened him and the other guests, he fiercely hoped that Riley had kept her head down and would be discouraged from fighting the enemies whilst being unarmed. But he should have know better. How she had brought down three armed men was beyond him. He could feel her racing heart pressed on top of his own. He took a deep breath and moved his hand to cradle the back of her neck.  
“R-Reeve, you’re squishing me” Riley muttered painfully.  
His body jerked into action and he moved to sit up, releasing Riley’s body of the tight embrace. His vision finally returned to him, though his watery eyes were still a bit blurry and stung as he tried to look around him. His bloodshot eyes settled on the woman in front of him as she shuffled to sit on her knees next to him. One hand was still on his arm as the other reached up to cup his face.   
The sight of her smiling face was suddenly crystal clear to him. A wave of warmth and joy washed over him, washing away the muscle aches and the stinging of his eyes. A calmness settled in his mind and he reciprocated her smile placing his hand over hers.   
“D-did you hear what I said?” Riley stammered.   
“Ay?” A questioning murmer rose from his lips.   
“I - I asked if you were in pain” Riley said a little bit louder, “you’re bleeding”.  
“I uhm…” Reeve felt the stinging pain return and looked at her hand as she retracted it from the side of his face.   
Alarmed by the sight of his own blood the soothing sensation faded instantly and he timidly felt the side of his head. Riley leaned forward and tilted his head slightly, inspecting the wound on his temple.   
“The skin just broke, it’s nothing serious on the surface. It just looks bad because there is so much blood but that’s alway annoying with wounds this close to the hairline” a tingling sensation ran through his body as Riley combed her fingers through his hair. He pressed his lips together, trying to ignore the emotions that run rampant through his head.   
‘She was just trying to check my wounds. There is nothing to it. Just stop thinking- stop looking at her che- she’s 23!’ he gently pushed her at arms length and said nervously, “I’m just feeling a bit dizzy, that’s all”.  
RIley’s expression shifted and worry lines formed on her forehead as she scanned him again with her eyes. “Maybe we should have you looked for a concussion”.  
Spotting the blood that was running down her arm in streams Reeve’s heart rate spiked again and he shrieked, “Never mind that. More importantly, we should have you looked at. You were shot!”  
Riley curiously looked at her arms and clamped her hand over the wound on her upper-arm. “It’s just a flesh wound, and this one went though and through, so I guess I was lucky” she stated lighlty. Shifting with a little wince she felt her ribs and said, “I do think I got a broken rib or two”.  
It was mind boggling how nonchalantly she spoke of her injuries. Worry filled his chest as she moved to sit up. Struggling to get to his feet first, he held out his hand to help her. His heart skipped a beat as she took his hand, but he still felt pretty useless as she moved to check on the thugs she had knocked out with her bare hands.   
“Oh god, Miriam” Riley hissed and moved towards the door opening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took self defense classes when I was younger so I know it's all about the weight of your opponemnt and diverting motion. However, my search engine is now littered with some questionable search inputs XD


	15. Chapter 15

Riley hurried back out of the room, shouting over her shoulder for Reeve to follow. Miriam was still huddled behind the pillar.  
Her face lit up as she saw Reeve walk out of the salon. After Riley helped her up Reeve was quick to support her as she seemed a little pale, like she was going to faint at any minute. Riley gave the two a look over, a bit roughed up, but nothing serious. Scanning her surroundings she suggested they were going to gather the guests and see if there were any people that needed urgent medical attention. But as she did, she heard a helicopter draw nearer outside.  
“Stay behind me, we’re moving” she pushed Miriam into Reeve’s arms and moved herself in front of them.  
“But the guests-“ Miriam started  
“You two are my main priority right now” Riley stated harshly and lifted a half automatic from a downed hostile as she made her way to the main entrance. Reeve seemed to be a little more decisive as he escorted Miriam towards Riley’s position. Riley appointed them to a hiding spot between a cabinet and statue and planted herself behind the open main door. If they were reinforcements, she would have to defend their position before she could move the two outside. She would rather be outside than inside with a larger assault, more room to hide and evade hostiles.  
She heard chatter outside, soldiers being appointed to different area’s and one more chopper closed in on the grounds. Riley prayed fiercely that they were Shinra reinforcements. As a small group approached the front door, Riley instinctively raised her rifle and held her finger on the trigger. But as soon as she saw the dark suit and the bald head she lowered it slightly. The Turk looked to his right, saw the rifle and reacted immediately. Riley couldn’t get a word out as he singlehandedly disarmed her and used his other hand to grab her bad arm and twisting it behind her back. Riley screamed out in pain, the man’s grip was too strong. She tried to stomp down on his foot to get him to loosen his grip but it was to no effect, for he quickly sidestepped.  
“Riley!” Reeve called out and jumped to his feet.  
Riley panicked a little, her first instinct was to get out of the bald mans’ hold, before trying to voice her thoughts. She braced herself and tightened her fist, throwing back her elbow as hard as she could in the direction of his face. She landed that hit, but still his hand kept her arm firmly on her back.  
“Let her go right now!” Reeve shouted.  
“Director Tuesti” the Turk answered calmly. He finally released her and Riley almost fell over. Two arms wrapped around her and Riley took a relieved sigh as she smelled Reeve’s cologne. The adrenaline was finally wearing off and the pain hit her bad, making her legs feel like jello. She latched on to Reeve’s jacket with her healthy arm to try and pull herself up.  
The Turk straightened his tie before he took off the broken pair of sunglasses with a somewhat annoyed look in his eyes, only to replace them with a second pair he pulled from his suit. Riley couldn’t help but give a little proud grin at the small bruise she had on his cheekbone.  
“Sir, indoor perimeter is secure, Reno is leading the squadron outside and- Riley!” Elena burst through the front door. She looked at Riley who was still hanging in Reeve’s arms and moved to her side. Laying a careful hand on her shoulder she asked if she was allright but she was a bit surprised when Reeve coaxed her body away from her, turning his shoulder and by extent Riley’s shoulder towards Elena. She looked between the Director and Rude who were in a heated stare down and quickly said, “this is Riley, she helped me out when the first wave breached the premises”.  
One curious eyebrow rose above the edge of the sunglasses and Riley wanted to open her mouth to say something but instead Reeve said, “this woman is my employee. Without her quick intervention, the guests and I that were kept hostage in the salon could have been dead for all we know”.  
“You owe her an apology” he finished with a bitter tone.  
Riley stared at Reeve with wide eyes. She had never heard him talk like this before. He was never one to be aggressive, either in speech or body language. He was a very charismatic business man who had a way with words. Still, he must had to be really pissed of that he was now trash talking a Turk. She felt flattered he was defending her honor like that. When Rude cleared his throat and curtly apologized for the rough treatment all Riley could muster was a distracted, “uh-huh” for all she was focused on right now was the warmth of the man who was holding her.  
“Paramedics will be here shortly. Come on, let’s sit down for now” Elena gestured to Miriam and herded the three to the hallway on their left. The blonde looked over her shoulder and Rude gave her a short nod before walking through the foyer with wide strides as he took to the stairs.  
Elena set a couple of chairs upright and kindly asked Miriam and Riley to sit down. With a little groan, Riley slipped down onto the chair. She confirmed that she had indeed broken her ribs, and her left arm still felt very sore from Rude’s armlock. She instinctively held it up while Elena asked over her comm what the status was on the paramedics.  
“Oh Riley, are you allright” Miriam said with a trembling voice. Her hands were hovering in the air, not being sure where to put them to try and offer her some comfort.  
“It’s allright. Just a little sore. Honestly, I’ve had a monster chomp down on my right hip one time. I thought I’d never walk again. This is nothi-“  
“Stad! Stad a sgur- stop acting like this is nothing!” Reeve hissed. Riley perked up, her gaze being pulled towards the man’s face. Reeve looked very cross and he clenched his hands into fists as he continued, “ye could have been killed. Yer are an unarmed civilian- yer not on one of those damned security jobs”.  
Riley felt a pang of guilt go through her stomach. She looked at her arm which had started to bleed profusely. Her dress was a mess and her knees were scuffed from where she had been kneeling in the glass. Looking back up she saw Reeve’s suit and hands also had bloodstains on them. Her blood… She had to remind herself that, yes, this wasn’t a security job. This wasn’t the environment where you had to walk it off and keep pushing on until they day was over and you were on transport back home.  
She muttered an apology and kept her eyes low as to avoid Reeve’s infuriated face. Elena stayed with them until the paramedics arrived and pulled aside three officers and a gurney to where they were sitting. Riley felt a little bit embarrassed to get on the gurney, but she felt obligated to do so as Miriam and especially Reeve seemed very adamant that she needed urgent medical attention and did not have the ability to walk on her own. She was carted off to the back of an ambulance where the medical workers cleaned her wounds and wrapped it up before telling her she had to get to the hospital to get stitches. They were all treating her so gently and carefully it made her feel like she was made out of glass. Or that she was about to faint dramatically onto the gurney. Miriam who stood near the vehicle to have her scrapes looked at quickly called for Reeve and relayed the information. Riley had tried to make eye contact and tell her not to do that. But as soon as Reeve turned towards one of the medical workers, she knew there was no stopping him from joining them on the ride to there and she felt even more embarrassed. On top of that she felt frustrated. She felt like she was being babied by these topside medical workers, and more frustrating still, she felt like she was being babied by Reeve who quietly got into the van and planted himself on the small bench next to the medical worker who had started to hook Riley up to an IV. He crossed his legs and his arms, completely locking his posture and only made a cursory glance at Rileys face before looking away completely for the entire ride.

Riley just let everything happen as the night continued. She was too annoyed to object or say anything, thinking it would only complicate things if she didn’t cooperate like a good little civilian. She didn’t blink when the doctor zipped down her dress and examined her chest and lower torso. Nor did she react much when the anesthetic had taken enough effect for the man to start stitching her up. Outside the curtain that gracefully shielded her from Reeve’s concerned frown she heard him being led away from the first aid ward and into a nearby waiting room, seeing as he wasn’t injured enough for him to be anywhere near the facility.  
Riley breathed an audible groan of relief as she heard the door close and the doctor chuckled a little as he dipped the needle in her skin again.  
“I’m sorry, he is being a little over dramatic” Riley leaned her head on her healthy arm where she sat in the chair.  
“Don’t worry, I see worried husbands and wives trying to rush in here all the time. It’s just their way of showing their concern”  
“Oh he’s not- uhm…” Riley felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She looked idly at the blood bag that was hanging from her other arm and said, “he’s my boss”.  
“Oh?” The doctor hummed curiously, “My apologies. My assumption was incorrect, I hope I didn’t insult you in any way”. He calmly plonked the needle into a little dish and grabbed a disinfectant wipe to dap away any stray drops of blood before starting to wrap up her arm and shoulder.  
“He did seem very worried about you. You must mean a great deal to your boss” he stated with a smile.  
Riley pressed her lips together and continued to study all the medical supplies around the chair. A male nurse stepped up said that the room was ready and handed the doctor a clipboard.  
“I can’t go home?”  
“No, I want you to stay here for tonight. It’s just procedure. You did loose quite a lot of blood, I do hope you realize that” he signed the document with wide swirls and handed it back. “The nurse will write down the rest of your information and then he’ll bring you to your room” he rose to his feet with an elevated sigh and moved to the curtain. He stopped and looked over his shoulder and said with a wink, “rest up. Don’t move your arm too much. And don’t be too hard on your boss now, alright?”  
Some time later after the nurse had helped her out of her dress and into a standard nightdress, she laid down on the bed and took a deep breath.  
“Ok ma’m, do you need anything?” He said and firmed up the pillow behind her head.  
“Just leave me alone to die in peace” Riley groaned and rubbed her eyebrows with her free hand.  
“Sounds like you’re going to be just fine. But just in case. Push this here button if you need anything” he smiled and tucked in the blanket a little firmer.  
Riley spotted a figure in the door opening and whispered desperately, “please tell him not to come in here. I can’t handle that guilt tripping right now”.  
She turned to the other cheek and listened intently to the conversation. The male nurse tried to uphold protocol and kept repeating it was beyond visiting hours now, but Reeve persisted and said he only wanted give Riley her phone. Charmed by his persistence, the male nurse stepped aside and allowed him to talk to her for 5 minutes. Riley didn’t have the time to feel betrayed as she heard Reeve step up to the side of her bed.  
“Are you comfortable?” Reeve asked in a reserved voice.  
Riley nodded and mumbled, “I’m fine, really”.  
“I’m glad to hear it” the man sounded a bit resigned.  
She knew she had to look at him at one point as to not look like a complete bitch. She turned to face him. Immediately her heart clenched. His concerned brown eyes were a little glossed over and the lines on his face again, made him look much older then she knew he was. He had a large rectangular bandaid on his temple and his normally perfectly combed hair now hung loosely to the sides of his face. It was a surprising good look on him, if Riley wasn’t busy wrestling with her emotions.  
“I’m sorry”  
“I’m really sorry”  
The two shared a little laugh and the mood lightened a little.  
“I’m sorry that I shouted at you. I was just… spooked by all the blood” Reeve looked at the little stain on the edge of his sleeve.  
“No I should be sorry. It’s been a stressful night. I shouldn’t have spoken so lightly about my injuries” she said, “I didn’t mean to worry you” she quickly added.  
“It’s just, all of this fuss. I’m not used to it. Down below, you stick a bandaid on it and walk it off” she admitted.  
“This wasn’t something that a bandaid could fix Riley” Reeve’s voice rose and Riley saw his gaze harden again.  
“A really big bandaid could hav-“ she mumbled but cut herself off as she hear Reeve make a frustrated noise.  
A silence stretched between them and the nurse from the door opening said, “wrap it up mister Tuesti. It’s time for the patient to go to sleep”.  
Reeve gathered his wits again and said with a very matter of fact tone, “this is Miriams phone. Yours was lost in the struggle. She turned off all the notifications before handing it to me. Use it to contact her in the morning, she’ll send over whatever you need. I’m calling you in sick tomorrow, so you’ll have a couple of days to recover- and that is final” he added a little bit more harshly.  
Riley almost rolled her eyes at him but kept herself from it. She froze when Reeve placed his hand on her healthy shoulder and from the corner of her eye she saw him lean forward, as if to place a kiss on her forehead. He flinched however and pulled back a little saying, “g-good night” before leaving the room in a hurried pace.  
She couldn’t stop thinking what would have happened if he had kissed her, if that was even the intent. Riley couldn’t sleep for quite a while, still blushing at that little failed gesture, but her body eventually submitted to the effect of the painkillers and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's uhm... wrap this up shall we ;) (pun intended)


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning after having called Miriam to bring her a change of clothes, Riley had discovered that she was staying in the same hospital as her father. She was grateful that the IV had been removed and after an ok hospital breakfast she walked to her fathers room.   
His skin became a shade paler when he saw his daughter in the hospital night gown and her arm in a sling. Riley explained the situation and his expressions varied from worry, to happiness, to confusion and back.   
“Well at least I have more confidence in my girl than that prissy suit” he padded Riley’s healthy arm.  
“Oh Pa, he meant well” Riley smiled and caught his hand. As she squeezed it a little she noticed how pale and thin it was in comparison to hers. Her father had never been a particularly handsome man, but he had been big and strong once. She tried to argue that he looked a little bit better after transferring to this hospital but she honestly couldn’t imagine him looking any better than he did now. The image of his pale and skinny form was etched onto her memory.   
“I heard your scheduled surgery is close. Are you nervous?” She said in an optimistic but grounded tone.  
“A little…” he said after a long pause. “I just wish this was all over”.  
“Don’t say it like that Pa” Riley squeezed his hand again, “you’ll be out of here in no time. And then we can go to Costa del Sol or something. Get some of that healthy sea air in your lungs. I’ll have to lather you with three layers of suncream though”.  
She closed her eyes and tried to think of the warm sand and the curling waves. “I’ll have to find a swimsuit. One that hides my more obvious scars, if these don’t turn into ugly ones” she looked at her shoulder, “we can eat all the seafood we want and paddle in the surf, it'll be great”.  
Her father smiled and gave a little nod, “I’d like that”.  
Riley smiled brightly and pressed a kiss on his hand. Noticing the time she said “I need to get back. Miriam will be here soon with my clothes” and left one last kiss on his forehead.  
Riley slipped back into her bed and turned on the tv to distract herself. Not that she had anything else to do. She missed having something to do all the time, though her thumbs didn’t miss the extraneous work. The news was plastered with yesterdays attack on the President. The reporters were all very dramatic about the circumstances, but Riley was relieved that the reported death count on the company’s half was non existent. She couldn’t help but wonder what the casualties were on the other side. She was aware of the propaganda of Avalanche, but had never really paid any real attention to it. She had always had other things to worry about. They were supposed to be associated with Wutai, but Riley had her suspicions it was just the company spinning their own tale. From what she had heard, Wutai had refused to give up land for further developments and infrastructure. Avalanche were eco terrorists, not people defending their land from company's influence. Sure it was highly likely that they would want to assassinate the President, but the big tabloid story seemed a bit too much. A gentle knock sounded on the door and Riley quickly turned of the tv.   
“Good morning” Miriam walked in holding a large bag in her hand. Riley had to blink a couple of times, for flanking her was a floating bouquet. It hobbled to the side of her bed, almost bumping into it.  
“Oh bugger” a high pitched voice muttered and the bouquet adjusted it’s course before it jumped on the bed.  
It was then she saw the gloved hands and the brown boots and she hid her smile behind her hand.   
“Guid mornin Riley” Caith quipped and laid the bouquet on her lap. “I hope ye get well soon”.  
“Thank you Caith” she smiled and patted Caith’s head, “and thank you Reeve” she said a little louder.  
“I don’t think he’s listening right now. He’s in a meeting with the other department heads discussing the attack” Miriam said in a serious tone. The woman sat down with a sigh and put the bag on the cupboard.   
“It’s a bit of a mess at the office” she took of her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose.   
“Are you alright?” Riley asked spotting the band aid on her hand.  
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Had a bit of trouble sleeping, that’s all” Miriam tried to say lightly but as she pointed to her ears she said in a bitter tone, “my ears are still ringing from all that gunfire”.  
“Yeah gunfire in closed quarters can be a little loud. A lotta loud” Riley tried to make a little joke and it had some effect as a smile appeared on Miriams face.  
“But more importantly how are you? Is the pain-“  
“It’s not that bad. Painkillers are doing their job and the nurse said that I can take home a prescription for when it gets bad” Riley cut of Miriams train of thought.   
RIley looked at the flowers and admired the different colors and shapes. “These are so pretty. Where did he get these?”  
“Oh you might not know this yet but mister Reeve is quite the florist” Miriam said with a bright smile and put her own handbag next to the large bag on the cabinet. “He once said if he hadn’t become an urban planner, he would have wanted to become a garden architect, or a plain old gardener”.  
Riley couldn’t hold back a laugh. She looked into the distance and tried to imagine Reeve kneeling in a field, hands caked in dirt and big smile on his face as he planted a pot of daisies or something.   
“I’ll go ask if one of the nurses has a vase or something. And maybe I’ll find something to drink. Do you want a coffee?” Miriam stood up and walked to the door.   
Riley asked for a black coffee and pulled the bouquet a little closer. She looked up at Caith who now sat on the edge of the bed, swaying his feet up and down. He looked at Riley with a bright smile and said, “Reeve made such a fuss mòr about the arrangement”.  
“How are things at the office?” She asked to distract herself.  
“Like miss Miriam said. They’re all scered about the attack. Scered they’ll attack headquarters next” Caith couldn’t emote very well, his voice was the normal cheerful one, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice.   
“Did Reeve give Miriam the day off as well?”   
“Ay. Wished he would’ve taken a day off himself” the cat shook his head.   
“Caith… can I ask you something?”  
“Gu dearbh” he nodded so Riley could assume he was saying okay.  
“Do you have… multiply bodies?” Riley asked carefully.  
“Ay” he said unfazed.   
“Is one of…. you-I mean, is one of them with Reeve?”   
“Well… I’m in the office. Reeve said to wait here. He's iad tearin the tartan with the other department heads” Caith shrugged.  
“How did he look like to you? Is he… is he ok?” Riley played with one of the leaves.  
“Err… he had one of those. Whadda ye say… black lines under his eyes, and uhm. His skin looked a few shades paler than usu-“ Caith sudden perked up and his feet stopped moving.   
“He is just a bit taired. That’s all” he started an entirely different line with a cheerful tone.  
Riley took the bouquet in her hand and turned it around, “so it must be pretty boring at the office huh?”  
“Ay, lotsa people called in sick. And business came to a halt”  
“President Shinra must be pissed”   
“Ay, he wants ta bring Wutai down”  
Riley wasn’t sure Reeve realized he was talking through Caith or that he was doing it subconsciously. So she decided to test it by saying, “so how did baroness from Stuck-up take it?”  
“Scarlet is out for blood. I can’t remember seeing her so intent on killing someone. It’s quite concerning” Caith said in perfect English and moved his hand to rub his temple.   
“Sir, you should probably take a break” Riley said in a warm and gentle voice.  
Caith flinched and he carefully turned towards Riley, “wait how did you-”  
“Caith stopped swaying his feet. He normally does that when he is sitting” Riley pointed out with a chuckle.   
Reeve as Caith rubbed the back of his head and said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to visit you right away. I wanted to know if you were allright, even if it was in such a roundabout way”.  
“I’m not trying to spy on you or anything!” He added suddenly.  
Riley laughed and waved it off, “I know you didn’t sir, I believe you”.  
Her eyes settled on the flowers and a blush formed on her face as she said, “thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful”.  
“I’m glad you like them” Reeve/Caith replied with a gentle tone which Caith wouldn’t have managed on his own.   
“I’ll need to find a place for them back home. I think I’ll set them on the kitchen table” Riley tried to gently introduce her question. But Reeve caught on pretty quick and said, “did the doctor say anything about your release from the hospital?”  
“No but-“  
“Then I won’t hear anything of it. Riley you were shot. That isn’t something you can just shrug off” Caith/Reeve’s tone grew aggravated.  
“And when the work starts up again tomorrow, will you let Miriam stay home? Will you tackle all of the phone calls and meetings and all the paperwork yourself?” Riley responded in an equally irritated tone.  
“You’ll give yourself a heart attack if you keep working so much” the woman clenched her fist and saw her fathers face flash before her eyes.  
“Sir please…” she continued in a more desperate tone, “I’ll wear the sling, I’ll work from home. Anything, but please-“ Riley reached out to Caith’s face and placed it gently on his fuzzy cheek. It wasn’t hard at all to look through Caith visage and see Reeve, sitting on the edge of her bed.  
“You don’t have to do this all on your own” she felt tears well up in her eyes. Blinking a couple of times she dispelled the tears and strengthen her resolve before saying with a confident but gentle voice, “Reeve, please trust me. I’m a lot tougher than I look. And if I need a break, I’ll tell you honestly”.  
“Am I interrupting something?” A familiar voice spoke after clearing his throat.   
Riley’s head snapped to the left and she saw the doctor from last night standing in the door frame, Miriam standing behind him with a vase in one hand and a tray with two cups of coffee in her other.  
“N-nothing”  
“Ay. Dinnae worry about it doctor. Yer here to talk to Riley right? Tiugainn miss Miriam, less get out of the room” Caith grabbed the bouquet and jumped from the bed. “We’ll put this bouquet in the vase”. Caith held the bouquet high above his head to try and coax Miriam away from the door.  
“Oh you damned cat, stop it. I’ll drop the coffee” she mumbled and tried to move out of the way.   
“Thank you. I’ll just be a bit” the doctor said in a confused tone. He closed the door and looked at his chart for a moment to get his grip back on the situation. “Right, I’m here to check on your injuries. Are you dizzy or do you feel painful in certain places?” He got back on track and walked towards the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Riley went back to work the next day


	17. Chapter 17

The security was a bit tighter when approaching the Shinra building. She saw more infantry men patrolling around and she had to go through ID checks twice before she even entered the building. However, upon entering the building she saw a familiar figure walking towards her. Elena seemed to be having a serious conversation with someone through her comm, but as soon as she made eye contact with Riley she gave an innocent looking smile.   
“Morning Riley. Good to see you back on your feet again” but Riley felt a little bit on edge when Elena said in a slightly softer tone, “could you come with me real quick? It won’t be long”.  
“Let me inform mister Reeve first” she grabbed her phone. Texting with one hand in the sling was a bit wonky but it wasn’t undoable.   
Riley walked close behind Elena and when she scanned her pass, she saw a different window flicker on the screen. ‘Authorisation unlocked. Elena. Turks’. Elena’s pass obviously had more clearances then hers had, she wondered if she was going to be taken directly to the head of the Turks.   
No one got into the elevator with them, which was even more concerning. The silence didn’t help. “The Turks and the military must be having it rough with the aftermath” Riley decided to provoke Elena a little.  
“It’s nothing we can’t handle” Elena replied with a wooden nod.  
‘She’s being monitored’ Riley assumed and bit the inside of her cheek. Her eyes slid around the elevator cubicle. There were no noticeable cameras but she knew they were there.   
Riley didn’t hear the number of the floor being called, and as soon as the doors opened the women were greeted by Rude. The floor wasn’t much different from the others in the building, but the office Riley was being escorted to however was. It was wide and long with a big table in the middle surrounded by chairs. At the back in front of a large display sat a pale man with long black hair. He stood up and greeted her with a calm smile, “good morning misses Riley Thymos, It’s good to see you’ve recovered your strength”.   
Elena and Rude remained at the entrance and Riley was forced to walk up to the desk alone.   
She was glad she sent out that message to Reeve, though she suddenly doubted if it even got through, she wouldn’t put it beyond the Turks to block a phone signal with some EMP or something.  
“Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tseng. I’m the head of the Turks” he gestured to the seat opposite of his desk. Riley couldn’t use the little negotiation trick she had used on Miriam.   
“I assume you’ll want to interview me about the attack from two days ago. Now why would the head of the Turks be bothered with that?” She said straight out before sitting down.  
Tsengs expression remained unchanged, just a calm smile. “That is correct. I’m glad we’re already on the same page. As for the second question. I’m just a little curious, that’s all”.

Recalling the event was all that Riley ended up doing. She didn’t have to defend her actions, talk about her background (though she was more than certain they had already pulled a background check on her). Tseng didn’t even write anything down, he just sat there with his chin resting on the back of his hands. When the conversation was finished he seemed able to feign such a genuine tone saying, “thank you for you cooperation, misses Thymos” that it made a shiver go down her spine. This man was a trained liar.  
Only Elena walked her back to the elevator. Riley stepped up behind her as she waited for the elevator to come down and gently placed a hand on her arm, trying to block it from view with her own body.   
‘You aren’t under investigation are you?’ She tapped on Elena’s arm in morse code.  
“W-what?” Elena looked over her shoulder. Riley pressed her lips together, did Elena not know morse code?   
“No… it’s not like that. I just got chewed out by Reno and Rude nothing special. I’m just a little embarrassed. Really very embarrassed” Elena said in a hushed tone.  
“Oh… ok” Riley murmured.  
“Just let me know if you need something. You saved my ass back there” she continued on a more upbeat note.   
“More like the other way around” Elena combed her hair behind her ear with a chuckle.   
“I mean it” Riley gave her a finger gun and stepped into the elevator.   
“Noted” Elena gave a thumbs up and a cheerful grin.  
The doors closed and the elevator moved down, only to stop one floor down. The doors opened and revealed an exposed chest and confident grin.   
“Helloooo” Reno hummed and got in the elevator with her.   
Riley rolled her eyes and stepped to the side to put some space between them, but Reno of course stepped a little closer.   
“How did the little talk with Tseng go?” He asked curiously.   
“It was riveting” she said nonchalantly.   
“Maybe you shouldn’t have pulled a gun on those Avalanche idiots” he shrugged with a chuckle.   
“Maybe you guys should’ve deployed better security” Riley bounced back.   
Reno grabbed his chest and pretended to be hurt as he said, “oh… that’s harsh”.   
“Are only the Turks and the military allowed to carry arms inside the Shinra building?” Riley eyed the collapsed rod hanging from Reno’s belt.  
“Oh so you considered my offer. You’d be a chaotic newbie though” he closed his eyes, trying to picture the image.  
“Just answer the question”  
“Well in general yes. Some exceptions are made, but it’s mostly for the higher ups” Reno shoved his hands in his pockets. He opened one eye and glanced down, adding with a grin, “whyyyyyy?”.  
“Just wondering”  
The elevator stopped and Reno stepped forward.  
“At this pace you should just change your position from P.A. to bodyguard” Reno joked and stood in the door opening.  
“If you want a piece, hit me up. I’ll pull some strings” he winked at her.  
“In exchange for what? And please don’t say sex, or else I’m gonna throw up”   
“Well I do swing both ways” Reno raised his shoulders with a smile and tilted his head.  
Riley closed her mouth and raised a curious eyebrow. Then she made unimpressed face and hummed in agreement.  
“Just think of it as, a favor for favor. Not necessarily a bootycall” Reno joked.  
Riley raised her hand to her pendant, perhaps Reno wasn’t as shallow as she had taken him for. She looked him over and said, “I’ll keep that in mind”.   
“Glad to be of service love” he stepped away from the elevator allowing it to close, but just as the doors closed he made a kissy face which caused Riley to roll her eyes. 

“It was only a matter of time before the Turks pulled you aside for questioning. Let’s just hope this won’t lead to further investigation” Reeve drummed his fingers on the desk.  
“Agreed” Riley nodded, she pulled the clipboard from behind her sling and said, “now I’ve got some forms here that need signing and I’ve just received the rescheduled appointments from Miriam so we can go over them now”.  
Reeve raised his hand from the desk and made a weak gesture before smiling, “you’re very eager to get back in the saddle”.  
“I go where I’m needed” Riley gave a little thumbs up and plucked her phone from her pocket. She had taken the normal prescription painkillers, leaving the heavy stuff for when it really got bad. There was only a dull stinging pain in her side whenever she turned due to her broken ribs. As she reached for a case file in the cabinet she stretched a bit too far and a little restrained murmer escaped her. She heard Reeve shift in his chair and he quickly stepped up behind her to grab the folder for her.   
“Riley, I really don’t think this is-“ he started but Riley shushed him by hissing, “I’m fine Reeve”.  
They parted and Riley walked to her desk in the left side of the office. She lifted her hand from the sling to type with both hands, but she felt Reeve’s nervous eyes on her. The pain wasn’t what was bothering her, it was the unnecessary attention that was. She would be flattered if she wasn’t embarrassed by it.  
During the rest of the day, she noticed that Caith Sith stayed curiously close to her. Either he sat on the desk or peeked at her from behind the desk. He quipped and encouraged her, but it wasn’t Reeve because half of the time he was on the phone. She patted his head, to which he responded with a very realist sounding purr. She looked past Caith to look at Reeve who was still in a discussion with one of the Stewards. He seemed irritable today and sighed a lot, though whenever Riley or Miriam spoke directly to him, he was his normal calm self. Something inside Riley told her that he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep the past few days. She glanced Caith. The cat pointed to his thin eyes and circled them before nodding towards Reeve. Riley winked at him and opened a tab on her console.   
Riley diverted a second call to Reeve and answered it. It was one of the staff asking about the building contracts of a project and Riley offered to come pick them up. She got up from the desk and gestured to Reeve that she was leaving for a bit. The man stumbled of a word before gesturing to Caith to follow her. The cat jumped from desk and happily bounced to Rileys side.  
“No I’m sorry, I’m listening. Continue” he cleared his throat.   
Riley looked between the both of them and smiled. She reached out her hand and waved at Caith. He looked at it with a tilt of his head, but when he connected the dots, he grabbed her hand with a chuckle. Caith was the size of a small child, so it really was like walking with one of the kids of the orphanage down below.   
“The uhm… yes the uhm” Reeve hackled. Riley looked over her shoulder. Reeve looked very intensely at his console but on the desk she saw his left hand opened and closed as if searching for something.   
Riley walked towards the door, at which point Caith let go and jumped to open the door for her, only to quickly run back to her side to latch onto her hand. Riley almost couldn’t control her laughter, and was glad to make a quick escape.

As the day when by, Riley found she was a personal assistant with her own personal assistant. She greatly appreciated Caith’s bubbly personality and happy quips. Also she had to admit it was handy to let him carry files or open doors when she was on the phone.   
Walking around she was often pulled aside and asked about her account of the event of two days ago. Most of her fellow employees had developed a newfound admiration for her and expressed how impressed they were that she had fought against the Avalanche troops. Ilya most of all hung on her lips and kept asking for more information. It made her feel like a celebrity. Attention that she felt was both unwanted and unwarranted.   
The workday came to an end and slowly the office emptied out. Riley ended another longwinded conversation with Ilya and wished her a good evening before walking back to Reeve’s office.   
“Thank you Caith” she smiled as the cat held the door open for her.   
‘Just where I left him’ she sighed and walked to the desk.   
Reeve was still busily typing away. He usually stayed one to two hours after everyone had gotten home, so this wasn’t unusual. Riley had usually arranged for his dinner to be delivered to the office or made reservations at some nearby restaurant. This time she had done the latter, but there was something else that she wanted to address, and it was making her a bit bashful.   
“How was today? Were your injuries interfering with your work in any way? And please don’t lie to me” Reeve briefly raised his eyes from the screen.   
“I’m feeling just fine. A little sore but-” she looked down at Caith,“I’m glad I had a little helper”.  
She told Reeve about the latest report and added that she had arranged for Philip to pick him up in half an hour to drive him to the restaurant.   
“Speaking of dinner” she tried to make a bridge between the subject. Timidly pulling her pendant she said, “I was wondering if…. We could… perhaps go get lunch together. If you’re free”.  
“Of course, we eat lunch together most of the time, I don’t see a problem” Reeve replied lightly. Riley realized he wasn’t paying attention so she continued, “I meant on a Sunday. Go out for lunch, on a Sunday”.  
As his expression shifted from concentrated to composed embarrassment, Reeve sat up and pressed his back into the seat.   
“What brought this up all the sudden?” He asked calmly.   
“Because I’m pretty sure you’ll work overtime on Sunday unless I keep you from it” Riley huffed and planted one hand in her hip.   
Reeve cast his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath before bringing his hands to his face to press his fingers against his eyebrows.  
“My point exactly” Riley replied to that gesture of defeat.  
“Sir, I’m you personal assistant. I’m less interested in the grander scale of the projects this department undertakes and rather… I’m more interested in your wellbeing”.  
“It’s admirable you want to allow the employees that were there during the attack to recuperate and process the trauma, but the fact is that you’re overworking yourself” she stated the facts because she knew the amount of unrelated work he had picked up next to his directional functions.  
“Miriam agrees. And so does Caith” Riley gestured to the robotic cat. Reeve’s frustrated gaze slid over the cat which quickly jumped behind Riley. He obviously felt betrayed by the construct he had made with his own hands.   
He leaned on his forearms and took a deep breath, “I could do lunch”, he admitted defeat.  
“Great” Riley beamed. The small blush she had had before intensified as she reminded herself of the other thing she wanted to propose.  
“After lunch we could perhaps take a walk. There is this new flower exhibit in the botanical gardens in Sector 1”  
“Oh” Reeve perked up and his face lit up. Suspicion flickered in his eyes and he started, “wait how did you-“ while looking at the nervous curling tail of Caith behind Riley’s legs.  
“With the flowers you gave me? It was a bit obvious” Riley joked and watched Reeve give a little guilty smile.   
“And Miriam told me” she admitted.   
Riley chuckled nervously and pulled her phone from her pocket. “Shall I ask Philip to pick you up at 10?”  
“Oh uhm- yes” Reeve stood up from the chair to straighten his jacket.  
“Ok, I’ll have Miriam put in your schedule so you won’t forget” Riley joked and started a mail to Miriam.  
“No that’s fine, I’ll do it myself” Reeve interjected and quickly opened his phone.  
Riley shifted the screen on her phone and went to open her own schedule instead. Her heart was racing as the entered, ‘Lunch with Reeve’ in the text box and hesitated into changing it into mister Reeve for a split second.   
A knock on the door spooked her so much she almost dropped the phone and Riley quickly turned around. It was Miriam telling the two that she was going home and wished the two a good evening.   
“Y-yes, a good evening to your too miss Miriam” Reeve smiled.   
Miriam quirked an eyebrow at the stiff delivery and looked between Riley and the Director. Riley combed her hair in front of her face as she looked at Caith, hoping to hide her blush.  
A knowing smile formed on face and she said, “have a safe journey home sir” before giving him an encouraging nod.  
Reeve picked up on the gesture and nervously adjusted his cufflinks. The two remained quiet for a while and Caith opened his mouth to ask something, but Reeve quickly overrode his output and forced the robot cat to stay quiet.   
“If that is all?” Reeve recomposed himself.  
“Yes, that’s all” Riley answered and stuffed her phone in her jacket. “Do you want me to wait till Philip arrives or-“

“No it’s alright, you should go home and rest” Reeve said firmly, hoping that that would rule out any counter arguments Riley might have. After Riley had left he sunk down in his chair and let out a sigh he had been holding in for a while. He didn’t understand why his heart was still racing. He had gone out for lunch with Miriam or other co workers on numerous occasions in his free time. Reeve glanced at Caith.   
“How did she look-“ he started but shook his head and just accessed the memory of the robot and dug through the video files. Caith normally didn’t record anything permanently, Reeve programmed him to delete it daily before going into standby mode. But the files were still in the temporal storage. He hesitated, he didn’t want to be accused of spying on his coworkers. But there was a burning curiosity that was eating away at him. He bounced the files to the console and opened a private window.  
He ran a query asking if there were records that showed Riley asking about him. Half a dozen fragments popped up and he watched them. The first was between Miriam and Riley speaking about his schedule. The second was Riley speaking with Ilya about the attack. Most of the fragments revolved to that subject as everyone seemed very curious to hear her side of events. Reeve felt irritated by her lighthearted tone, but he also felt a little bit of pride form in the back of his mind. He realized her had never thanked her for her bold actions and courageous performance during the attack. Only scolding her for her reckless behavior and expressing his worry for her wellbeing. While the rest of his staff were praising her, Reeve suddenly felt very aware of how dismissive he had been about the subject.  
The guilt that slowly took hold only amplified when he realized he was in fact spying on Riley, so he shut down the last recording. There was an abort message before the image flickered back on and Caith seemed to push a recording into the cue on his own accord.   
Reeve looked at Caith with a curious frown. The cat remained unfazed, just standing next to the desk, happily swaying his arms in his neutral pose.   
Reeve started the video and watched how Ciath from his view tapped Riley’s hand. “Whadare ye lookin at lass?” He asked and Riley’s grin grew a little as she kneeled, showing the cat her phone.   
“This one has a new flower exhibit. Look at all these beautiful flowers” she swiped past a couple of pictures.  
“I’m not good at processin what humans find ‘beautiful’, but Reeve always smiles when he looks at pictures like this” Caith quipped.  
“Will you show these to Reeve?” He continued.  
“Well yes, but not the pictures” her cheeks grew red and she had a timid little smile as she said, “I’d like to show these to him in person. That is… if he want’s to go out with me…”  
“Go out?” Caith asked straight away.  
Reeve had the distinct urge to override the robots query but knew he was looking at a recording. He paused it and covered his mouth with his hand. After a bit he resumed the recording again, his heart beating painfully fast again.  
“Yeah it’s when two humans, go somewhere special together and have fun”  
“Ah, ye want Reeve to have fun! That I understand!” Caith quipped and Reeve almost buried his face in his hands out of embarrassment.   
“Oh but, don’t tell Reeve” Riley said in a high pitched voice. She pressed her finger to her lips and smiled nervously, “just don’t tell him, promise?”.  
He paused the video and leaned back. Running a hand through his hair he turned to the robot cat. He wasn’t feigning innocence, the robot wasn’t aware of human emotions like that. Raising his hands to rub his fingers of his eyebrows he mumbled “Carson a ta- why are ye showing this to me? Riley asked ye not to-“.  
“Tellin is a ’bruidhinn, ay? This ain’t tellin, deas?” Reeve almost saw Caith run a query in his language files.  
“Stad…” Reeve sighed and sat back up.  
“From now on, when Riley asked ye to do something, I wan ye to listen to her” He got up from the chair and pushed away from the desk to grab his coat.   
“And never show or tell me anything in your recordings retaining to Riley ever again” he spoke over his shoulder, “not even when I ask ye too”.  
“Ay” Caith replied cheerfully, “oidhche mhath”.


	18. Chapter 18

Riley’s hair was the only thing she had to remind her of her mother. It was the same thick, curly brown mess that she had had. She never paid much attention to her hair, but today Riley had made an attempt to straighten her hair when she got a curious message on her phone from Torc. The woman put down the borrowed straightener from her neighbor and grabbed her phone. She hadn’t heard from him for over two months since she had left the building company.  
“Don’t go near Sector 1 or 8 tonight” it read. Riley tried to call him, but there was no response, so she left a message asking what was going on. She wanted to reach out to other old colleagues, but she realized she was cutting it a bit late and she still had to get to the place she had arranged to meet Reeve.  
Hastily putting on her blue cotton pants and light pink shirt, she grabbed her cardigan from her desk chair and ran to put her shoes on. She had already put on some light make up before starting on her hair, so she now just had to make it in time.  
Taking a buss and a short jog she was 10 minutes earlier than the meeting time, which gave her time to catch her breath.  
She checked her face in the reflection of one of the windows. Riley felt a little bit weird about it. She hadn’t been this focussed on how she looked like for a long time. She knew exactly why, as she heard a car pull up in the parking spot behind her.  
Philip opened the door and bid Reeve a good day before driving off, leaving the two alone. He was dressed in a plain grey suit coat a white shirt and dark blue pleated pants. He wasn’t wearing a tie, something Riley felt looked very good on him.  
The conversation started of a little unnatural. They mostly walked in silence as Riley led Reeve to the bistro she had made reservations at. She had taken off the sling, not feeling it was necessary anymore.  
“Here we are” she smiled over her shoulder.  
Reeve seemed a bit distracted and made a quick apology before opening the door for her. Riley had gotten used to that little gesture, so she didn’t comment on it only gave him an appreciative nod of her head.  
After being seated it was Reeve who started the conversation asking Riley how her father was.  
“He’s doing ok. His surgery is scheduled next week” Riley scanned through the menu.  
“To be honest I’m a bit nervous” she admitted and played with the edge of the page in her hand.  
“You can always ask the day off if you want to be at the hospital when he wakes. Miriam and I will manage” Reeve offered and Riley hummed in agreement saying she’d think about it.  
“You didn’t want to go visit him today?” Reeve’s voice sounded like he felt guilty about the situation.  
Riley shook her head with a smile and replied, “I’d only be stressed out from trying to look like I’m not totally stressed out- does that make sense” a nervous giggle rose from her lips.  
“I think I can understand that feeling” Reeve recognized.  
“How is your mother? She’s back home right?” Riley tried to switch the subject.  
“Yes, she’s back with Toulouse and Baileys. Oh they’re her cat and dog respectively” Reeve added.  
“I call her every now and then. The maid, misses Erza takes great care of her. I can always count on her to keep her well fed and well supplied with reading material” he folded his hands and his gaze softened as he looked to the side.  
“I’m honestly a lousy son. I should be the one looking after her, instead I hired a maid to do it. But whenever I’m at her house to visit, she always readily complains about anything I try to do for her, so really I think it’s for the best”  
“Oh so she’s that kind of mother” Riley laughed softly.  
Reeve looked up and saw the melancholy in Riley’s eyes. He took a moment to choose the right words before saying, “you never speak of your mother. What happened to her?”.  
Riley pressed her lips together and as Reeve quickly apologized for bringing it up she shook her head and said, “no, it’s fine. I just don’t talk about her all that much”.  
“She and Papa where never really married so it wasn’t as if they divorced. They just left each other” she shrugged and absently traced the cord of her pendant.  
“That is… unfortunate” Reeve wasn’t sure how to fill up the silence.  
“She uhm… she had a very bad gambling problem. That’s all I want to say about that. When she left, Pa and I left too”  
Reeve quickly connected the dots. That must have been around the time he first met her, 10 years ago in the rain. It all started to make sense now, and he was becoming painfully aware of how difficult her situation must had been.  
“I don’t want to get back in touch with her. She made her choice and she chose to live her life the way she wanted, without us. I don’t- I just don’t want to see her ever again” Riley made a curt gesture as if she wanted to cut the conversation off.  
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked about it” Reeve lamented  
“Why not? It’s a perfectly normal thing to ask and I gave an honest answer. That’s all there is to it” Riley tried to put on a brave face.  
“I’ve still got my Pa. And he took great care of me so I’ll be damned if I don’t give him the care he deserves” she smiled, her eyes a little damp.  
“I can understand now why you’re so determined to provide for your father. It’s very commendable” Reeve tried complimenting her and it had the anticipated effect, as Riley gave a little timid but genuine smile.  
She looked past his shoulder and said in a little more upbeat voice, “oh that’s our food. Let’s not let this doom and gloom ruin our lunch. That’s not what this day was for”

At they got closer to the gates of the Gloriosa botanical garden, Riley was to happy to see Reeve’s face light up.  
“I can’t quite remember the last time when I went to a botanical garden” he said as they got in line for the ticket booth, “I mostly study it in my free time or go to the odd flower show or two”.  
He looked closely at the display showing a short promo of the flower exhibit as they waited. The little shifts in expression were quite adorable, he was really excited about this.  
“We’re not even inside yet, come on” Riley laughed and hooked her healthy arm around his and pulled him forward as the line gave way. She asked the salesman for two tickets and Riley already saw Reeve reach for his wallet.  
“Nope, I’m paying for this one. You paid for lunch, so I pay for the tickets” Riley refused and quickly pulled out her own wallet. They went though the entrance and both received a little booklet with extra information and a map and the employee wished them a good day.  
Riley spotted a code she could scan an quickly pulled up and interactive map on her phone.  
“Ok, there is the outside area with the rock garden, the rose garden, the waterscapes and the pond are over here. The exhibit is here in the main greenhouse, do you wanna start there?” She held up her phone and pointed at the big doming greenhouse.  
“We could take a stroll outside first, it’s lovely weather” as Reeve stepped closer, Riley felt how his arm brushed over hers. He was close enough she could smell his cologne again. Her heart was racing and it seemed to block her throat as she swallowed thickly. “… through the waterscape and then come back around to the greenhouse. How does that sound like to you?”.  
“Y-yeah” Riley grinned and sidestepped a little to put some distance between them. She didn’t need to feel that electricity run up her arm any longer.  
After making a hard left, they followed the winding stone path through the rows of trees. Reeve would often stop and quickly read the descriptions. More often than that, he would often comment on how a plant or tree was cultivated and how impressive it was. But there were long pauses where they could just walk and chat about all kinds of things.  
Like how Reeve’s father apparently had worked in architecture, and that’s where he go to learn about construction. How he had lived in a big house outside of Midgar growing up where they had had a massive garden, and Reeve had spent his childhood playing hide and seek with the gardener mister Hayden. Reeve spoke very fondly of him and Riley could see he was definitely the inspiration of his fascination with the natural world.  
“Why did you choose to be a urban planner instead?” Riley asked.  
“I worked at the company my father did for a long time. After he died, people started to put more and more pressure on me to become his successor. At first I felt honored, but as time went by I felt less and less like I was doing the things I wanted to do. I moved to Midgar on my own at the age of 20 and got the job at Shinra through some connections I had. The city was a little smaller at that time, not even all the reactor had been built. But there were just so many possibilities here. I knew I could do great work here. Really make a change” he spoke with the same passion Riley had seen from him 10 years ago. He was a little bit older and perhaps more tired that he was letting on to, but he truly had a dream he wanted to fulfill.  
“What about you? What made you decide to work for the construction company?” Reeve bounced back the question.  
Riley had a little panic attack in her head. She focussed on a very pretty looking flower and leaned forward to smell it to try and collect her thoughts. She couldn’t tell him she had chosen Yoggs company because she knew Reeve’s department often subcontracted them. That would be admitting that she had been obsessed with meeting him again for 10 years. Granted she hadn’t known what she would’ve done once she had eventually met him. Things kind of got massively out of hand with the whole attack and her being fired and then the confrontation behind the Blue Mountain and her now working for him… Everything was suddenly buzzing around in her head.  
“You know the same as you-“ she started a little wonky.  
Riley knew that wasn’t enough so she quickly thought of a half truth and said, “I wanted to be involved with building strong houses and safe workspaces for the people. I started working in construction back down in the slums, but I kinda had to search for topside work as my Pa’s condition grew worse and the medical bills started adding up”.  
Memories flooded her mind and she thought back on her time back in the slums. She had almost forgotten she had spent part of her childhood and young adult life back there. As she thought of how luxurious she lived now compared to how she used to live back then, she felt a little conflicted as she said, “I wish I could have helped build those houses back in the slums. Not just Sector 1, but everywhere, honestly it’s such a mess down there”.  
Reeve picked up on her discomfort and replied, “development below the plates is often beyond my jurisdiction. Instead it’s in the hands of the Stewards to plan for construction or set up projects to try and build a safer environment. My predecessor never bothered with the development in the lower area’s. I’m still experiencing resistance from the downside authorities whenever I try to reach out for a possible cooperation, purely based on that fact”.  
The man’s jaw clenched and he realized he might look like he was making excuses. He was grateful when Riley said, “I’m not blaming you. I know you put loads of money into charity. I mean I hope I should know, I watch you slave away for days on end”.  
“It’s just… bureaucracy, and capitalism and ignorance…” Riley looked at the flowers.  
“I think out of all of those things, ignorance is the biggest problem to tackle” Reeve sighed and crossed his arms.  
“It’s probably willful ignorance at best” Riley took a deep breath.  
She looked over her shoulder. Reeve was lost in thought again, brow knit and gears turning. He looked very frustrated when thinking like that, no doubt going through dozens of possibilities at the same time.  
“Hey, less thinking of work, more thinking of nice things. I brought you here not to think of work” she waved her arms and took his hand.  
“Here, can you tell me about this one. It smells amazing” she pointed at a wall covered with a green climbing plant with fine yellow and pink blossoms.  
“That’s honeysuckle. It’s quite a hardy plant. It can grow in very barren conditions, and it grows very fast” Reeve explained and glanced at Riley. His eye fell on her pink shirt. A warm smile formed on his lips as made the connection that, even though Riley’s roots were in a harsh and barren environment, she was like the honeysuckle. Strong yet delicate.  
“Say. Were I to start reconstructing the slums, really focus on development and revitalizing the community, where should I start?” He asked curiously.  
“You’re still thinking of work?!” Riley sighed and turned around on the ball of her foot.  
“It’s just a hypothetical question” Reeve said lightly.  
Riley groaned and walked a couple of steps while throwing her hands up, “I don’t even know where to start. There is so much that you can do, and it also differs from neighborhood to neighborhood. I mean roads would be a priority. And- uurgh, I don’t know! You’d have to be there to see. I haven’t been there for two months and already I’m starting to forget what it’s like wading through mountains of scrap metal and shabby buildings”.  
“Suppose we were to go there, we would be able to make a proper assessment for a possible large scale project” Reeve continued. He was intrigued with the possibility. It would get a lot of criticism and pushback, perhaps even from the people living down there or worse his own employees.  
“Like that’s going to happen” Riley laughed, “president Shinra is going to have an aneurism”  
“I’m serious” Reeve said firmly.  
Riley looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.  
“It’s a missed opportunity that I’m very much willing to give a chance. Or at least investigate the possibilities” Reeve explained.  
The woman crossed her arms, “and you’d be willing to go into the slums with me?”  
“You said it yourself, I’d have to be there to see what the problems are before I can solve them”  
RIley suddenly burst out in laughter and Reeve answered with a nervous chuckle, “what? Was it something I said?”  
“No i just- I can’t… I can’t see- you” she said between laughter, “I can’t see you walking around in the slums, you wouldn’t survive a minute”.  
“You’re overreacting. It’s not like I’m going to get murdered on the spot” Reeve suddenly felt the urge to add, ‘right?’ to the statement, but didn’t.  
“No, but dressed like that. You’ll get pickpocketed or mugged or beaten up. Or all three” Riley giggled.  
“Ceart gu leor, ye think I can’t handle meself. Ye made that plenty clear” Reeve crossed his arms and continued with a bold glare, “whaddeye suggest then?”.  
Riley was surprised to hear Reeve’s accent bleed through, he was getting agitated. She gave a little sly grin and said, “maybe go undercover, or at least hide your identity in some manner. No matter how good your hair and beard look, your face is pretty easily recognized. And most folk down below don’t like Shinra all that much”.  
“Undercover? That seems like a very viable option” Reeve seemed to murmur to himself.  
“You’re really serious about this?” Riley asked again but more sincerely.  
“I am” he replied with an earnest tone.  
“Was it because I bought it up?” Riley questioned.  
“It was because you reminded me of the urgency of the situation. The problem was always there, I was just-“ Reeve hesitated. It was hard to point out this big shortcoming.  
“Ignorant to it?” Riley added carefully.  
“Maybe even willfully” he looked away in shame.  
Riley looked away as well. She knew Reeve had the power to make a difference for the people down there, power he had not used for years. Perhaps he really was willfully ignorant about the situation, which felt very wrong for a person like Reeve. She felt conflicted about her own position. Should she use her influence on the Director to try and push for more development below the plates? Her former neighbors hadn’t complained or blamed her for moving up in the world. But now that she was here at the top, she felt like the had the responsibility to try and give back to the people who raised her.  
“As long as it is truly your decision to do so, I’ll be with you all the way” Riley placed her hand on his upper arm and smiled.  
“That’s a comforting thought” the man replied with a soft gaze.  
Riley’s grip loosened on his arm and she slowly dropped her hand. Her fingers were grazing his sleeve and once she had reached the edge of his sleeve, she had to fight the desire to entangle her fingers with his. She looked up at his warm brown eyes. Whenever she really looked at his eyes, she always felt like she was being wrapped up in a warm blanket. She remembered how strong and surprisingly big his arms had been when he had held her close the night of the attack. She wished that she could just wrap her arms around his neck and melt into the radiating warmth. But she knew that was way to personal a touch to engage with her boss with.  
Her heart skipped a beat when she felt his hand brush over hers. For a split second she hoped he would take hold of her hand, but she snapped out of it and instead grabbed the edge of his sleeve to coax him to walk with her.  
“Come on, we still have a ways to go” she gestured to the path.  
“A-ay” Reeve replied stiffly. 

“Wow, this one looks like something Felicity would make into a dress” Riley studied the flowers of the spider chrysanthemum. She could definitely see a dress being made out of long tendrils flowing down from the waist that replicated the long petals of the flower.  
“Very often both artists and engineers alike draw inspiration from nature. I once saw the concept sketches of a music hall inspired by a birds nest. It was well put together, if a bit gaudy” Reeve chuckled. He glanced at his watch, doing a surprised double take before looking up through the glass dome of the greenhouse.  
“Riley, it seems we have lost track of the time. It’s half past 5” he said and Riley had the same reaction when checking her phone.  
“Oh whoops. I’m glad I didn’t schedule Philip to come pick you up at a certain time” she joked and looked around. They were almost the only ones left in the greenhouse, safe for an older couple which walked romantically hand in hand while making for the exit. Riley felt a little jealous but shook it off, today wasn’t about romance or flirting. She had to keep reminding herself that this wasn’t a date. Not a date, just a… not-date.  
“Do you want to stay a little longer?” She asked.  
“No, let’s go outside before they kick us out” Reeve joked and gestured for Riley to go up ahead.  
As they stepped outside, the sun had already started to set and the sky grew a deep shade of orange. Riley played with the hem of her cardigan. She didn’t want to go home just yet, but she wasn’t sure how to say this to Reeve without making the situation awkward.  
“If you’d like, there is a restaurant nearby. We can check if they still have a table available” Reeve’s hesitant tone remained unnoticed by Riley who gratefully agreed. She was practically over the moon that he would offer to spend more time with her. Somewhere in the back of her head, the schoolgirl crush that Riley had had on Reeve since she was 12 suddenly exploded. Her responsible adult mind was quick to push it back into the corner, but it too felt very giddy about the situation.  
Dinner went by faster than she had thought, and after a delicious parfait desert, they were sipping coffee and continued talking about possible projects to reconstruct the Sector’s slums. Even though Riley had told herself she wanted to keep Reeve from thinking about work today, she had to admit it was very exciting to discuss these plans, talk about the possibilities and review issues together.  
The entire day had been so compelling, Riley had almost completely forgotten what Torc had messaged her in the morning.  
Falling to the ground she accidentally rolled on her bad arm and she screamed out in pain. Her scream however was drowned out by the collapsing of buildings, screaming patrons inside the restaurant and crashing of cars out on the street. The all consuming, deafening ring that chased after the blast. And then everything went black.


End file.
